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REPORT OF COMMISSION I
>r4 .
)^orld Missionary Conference, 1910
{To consider Missionary Problems in relation to the Non-Christian World)
REPORT OF COMMISSION 1
CARRYING THE GOSPEL
TO ALL THE
NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD
With Supplement : Presentation
and Discussion of the Report in
the Conference on 15th June 1910
^^^2
PUBLISHED FOR THE WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCE BY
OLIPHANT, ANDERSON & FERRIER
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
AND THE
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
NEW YORK, CHICAGO, AND TORONTO
CONTENTS
Introduction
PAGE
I
PART ONE
The Opportunity and the Urgency of Carrying the
Gospel to all the Non-Christian World
PART TWO
Survey of the Non-Christian World —
Japan ....... 50
Formosa .
. 68
Korea
71
The Chinese Empire
81
Siam
. 108
British Malaya
III
The Dutch East Indies
114
The Phihppine Islands
121
Australasia and Oceania .
125
India
13s
Ceylon
164
The Asiatic Levant
168
Central Asia
191
Africa
203
North-East Africa
211
North-West Africa .
»
215
Western Africa
217
South- West Africa .
222
South Africa
227
Southern Central Africa
230
East Africa .
233
Madagascar .
239
Non-Christians of the Western Hemisphere —
Indians and Orientals in South America
246
Orientals in the West Indies
251
VI
CONTENTS
Survey of the Non-Christian World (continued)
Indians in Central America .
Indians in the United States
Orientals in the United States
Indians in Canada
Orientals in Canada .
The Arctic Regions .
The Jews ....
Unoccupied Sections of the World
252
253
255
260
262
264
268
279
PART THREE
Factors in Carrying the Gospel to all the Non-Christian
World —
The Disposition of the Forces .... 289
The Relation of the Various Missionary Methods to
Carrying the Gospel to all the Non-Christian World . 298
The Church in the Mission Field as an Evangelistic
Agency . . . . . .318
The State of the Home Church in its Bearing upon the
Work of Carrying the Gospel to all the Non-Christian
World ....... 344
The Superhuman Factor in Carrying the Gospel to ail
the Non-Christian World . . . -351
PART FOUR
Findings of the Commission
.• 362
APPENDICES
A. List of Corresponding Members of the Commission .
B. Suggestions for a World Survey of Missionary
Occupation ......
372
393
SUPPLEMENT
Presentation and Discussion of the Report in the
Conference ...... 399
General Index ...... 437
Index of Corre.spondents and Authorities Quoted,
AND OF Speakers in the Discussion . -451
MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION
Chairman
Mr, John R. Mott, M.A., LL.D., General Secretary
of the World's Student Christian Federation, New
York.
Vice=Chairmen
The Rev. Geo. Robson, D.D., Editor of the Missionary
Record, United Free Church of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Herr Pastor Julius Richter, D.D., Schvvanebeck,
Belzig, Germany.
Mr. Hans P. Andersen, B.A., Secretary, Foreign De-
partment, International Committee of Youn^ JVIen's
Christian Associations, New York.
The Rev. Professor Harlan P. Beach, D.D., Yale Uni-
versity, New Plaven, Conn., U.S.A.
Directeur A. Boegner, D.D., Missions Evangeliques de
Paris, France.
Mr. Marshall Broomhall, B.A., Editorial Secretary,
China Inland Mission, London.
Mrs. J. M. Cornell, Women's Foreign Missionary Society,
Methodist Episcopal Church, New York.
The Rev. James S. Dennis, D.D., New York.
The Rev. F. P. Haggard, D.D., Secretary, American
Baptist Foreign Mission Society, Boston, Mass.,
U.S.A.
The Right Rev. Bishop La Trobe, Moravian Missions,
Herrnhut, Saxony.
viii MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION
c-f^
Mr. Frank Lenwood, M.A., London Missionary Society
The Rev. R. P. Mackay, D.D., Secretary, Foreign Mission|
Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Canada,
Toronto.
The Right Rev. Bishop Montgomery, D.D., London.
Miss Ruth Rouse, Travelhng Secretary of the World's
Student Christian Federation, London.
Herr Pastor Vilh. Sorensen, Secretar}^ of the Oriental
Mission, Husby, Fyn, Denmark.
Mr. Eugene Stock, D.C.L., late Editorial Secretary of
the Church Missionary Society, London.
The Rev. A. Taylor, M.A., Secretary of the British and
Foreign Bible Society, London.
The Rev. Chas. R. Watson, D.D., Secretary, Board of
Foreign Missions, United Presbyterian Church of
North America, Philadelphia.
The Rev. Samuel M. Zwemer, D.D., Secretary of the
Student Volunteer Movement, New York.
CARRYING THE GOSPEL
TO ALL THE
NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD
INTRODUCTION
It is a startling and solemnising fact that even as late as
the twentieth century the Great Command of Jesus Christ
to carry the Gospel to all mankind is still so largely
unfulfilled. It is a ground for great hopefulness that,
notwithstanding the serious situation occasioned by
such neglect, the Church is confronted to-day, as in no
preceding generation, with a literally world-wide oppor-
tunity to make Christ known. There may have been
times when in certain non-Christian lands the missionary
forces of Christianity stood face to face with as pressing
opportunities as those now presented in the same fields,
but never before has there been such a conjunction of
crises and of opening of doors in all parts of the world as
that which characterises the present decade. It is
likewise true that never on the home field have the
conditions been more favourable for waging a campaign
of evangelisation adequate in scope, in thoroughness, and
in power. Therefore, the first duty of a World Missionary
Conference meeting at such an auspicious time is to
consider the present world situation from the point
of view of making the Gospel known to all men, and to
determine what should be done to accomplish this Christ-
given purpose. To this end Commission I., on Carrying
THE Gospel to All the Non-Christian World, was con-
COM. I. — I
2 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
stituted, and herewith presents the results of its investi-
gations and deliberations.
The Commission in its Report, first of all, sets forth
considerations which emphasise the present unique
opportunity and urgency of carrying the Gospel to all
the non-Christian world. Then follows a survey of the
different fields which, it is hoped, may serve as a reliable
basis for a comprehensive and aggressive policy. In
taking up each field the plan has been to indicate the
number, distribution, and character of the people to be
reached ; the extent to which the Gospel has already
been carried to them ; the agencies of evangelisation
now at work ; the task of evangelisation still to be
accomplished ; and the adverse and the favouring circum-
stances. In the light of this survey of the entire non-
Christian world, the principles and considerations which
should be borne in mind in determining the best dis-
position of the forces are outlined. The various methods
in use in the mission field are passed under review with
reference to their adaptation and efficiency in the vary-
ing circumstances which present themselves. The large
part which the Church in the mission field must have as
an evangelistic agency is shown, likewise the vital bearing
which the state of the Home Church has upon the
enterprise of carrying the knowledge of Christ to all
the non-Christian world. The indispensable and supreme
relation sustained by the Superhuman Factor is em-
phasised. At the close of its Report the Commission
presents certain findings or recommendations based upon
its correspondence and conferences with the leaders of
the Christian forces at home and abroad.
As a part of its Report, although published and
sold separately, the Commission has prepared and
issued a Statistical Atlas of Christian Missions. The
statistical section of this volume was prepared under
the editorship of the Reverend James S. Dennis, D.D.,
the author of the Centennial Survey of Foreign Missions,
presented at the Conference in New York ten years ago.
The atlas section, embracing maps of all missions in
INTRODUCTION 3
the non- Christian world, is the work of Professor Harlan
P. Beach of Yale University. It is essential to the
proper study of the Report of the Commission that the
Statistical Atlas be frequently consulted.
The work of the Commission has been deter-
mined by the basis and scope of the Conference
itself, and has thus been concerned solely with the
non-Christian world. In its survey of this field the
Commission has for the most part endeavoured to sum-
marise the information regarding missionary work
communicated by its correspondents. For detailed
lists.of the various missions at work in each principal field
and for the statistics indicating the extent of their work,
reference must be made to the Atlas mentioned in the
previous paragraph. In this Atlas the statistical informa-
tion regarding the missions of the Roman Catholic and
Russian Orthodox Churches is given separately, as well
as a map showing their distribution in non-Christian
lands.
Owing to the shortness of the time in which the Com-
mission has had to do its work, it has not been able to
make its investigations as extensive and as thorough as
is desirable. Its members are keenly conscious of the
resulting limitations. It is earnestly hoped, however,
that the way may have been pointed to a more scientific
study of the fields and problems, and, above all, that
enough may have been doheToT impress the Church with
the unprecedented urgency of" the situation, to create a
sense of deep solicitude as to the grave consequences
which must ensue if the present unique world opportunity
be not improved, and to indicate the lines along which
the Church may wisely enlarge its operations, and the
ways in which the efhciency of the work of evangelisation
may be increased.
The Commission acknowledges its deep indebtedness
to the hundreds of missionaries, native Christian leaders,
civilians, leaders of the Church in Christian lands, and
other special students of missionary problems for their
unfailing and invaluable co-operation at every stage of
4 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the preparation of the Report. The list of such collabo-
rators is so extensive that it is given in Appendix A.
In the confident hope that with the delegates of the
Edinburgh Conference, and with those who shall study
its investigations, discussions, and conclusions, there
may originate plans, efforts, and influences which,
animated by a new consecration to Christ, shall result
in an advance on the part of the Church really adequate
to make Him known to all men, this Report is now laid
on the conscience, the heart, and the will of every one
who reads these lines.
PART I
THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE UR
QENCY OF CARRYING THE
GOSPEL TO ALL THE NON=
CHRISTIAN WORLD
The study of the reports of hundreds of discerning
missionaries has convinced the members of the Com-
mission that the Christian Church has at the present time
a wonderful opportunity to carry the Gospel simul-
taneously to all the non-Christian world, and they are
also profoundly impressed by the urgency of the present
situation. They would call attention to considerations
which manifest the opportunity and accentuate the
urgency.
I. THE PRESENT POSSIBILITY OF CARRYING THE
GOSPEL TO ALL THE NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD
It is possible to-day to a degree far greater than at any
time in the past to give the Gospel to all the non-Christian
world.
I. It is possible from the point of view of the non-Christian
world itself. The non-Christian world is known to-day
as it never has been before. The work of exploration
has been comprehensive, thorough, and, so far as the
inhabited parts of the world are concerned, it
is practically completed. The whole world is remark-
ably accessible. Improved means of communication
have within the past two decades been spread like
6 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
a great network over nearly all of the great spaces of
the unevangelised world, or are to-day being projected
over these regions. For example, railway lines are being
rapidly extended in different sections of Africa, in the
Levant, in Central Asia, in the Chinese Empire, and in
the more populous parts of the East Indies, giving
missionaries easy access to hundreds of millions of people.
Within half a generation extra-territoriality has been
done away with by Japan in the revision of her treaties
with western nations, thus permitting missionaries to
travel, work, and reside in any part of the country. One
of the most significant and hopeful facts with reference
to world evangelisation is that the vast majority of the
people of the non-Christian nations and races are under
the sway, either of Christian governments or of those
not antagonistic to Christian missions. This should
greatly facilitate the carrying out of a comprehensive
campaign to make Christ known.
The minds of the people in most countries are more
open and favourable to the wise and friendly approach of
the Christian missionaries than at any time in the past.
In Japan, including Formosa and the Lu-chu Islands,
while there may be no evidence of wide acceptance of
Christianity, there is almost everywhere a readiness to
hear and to consider the Gospel message. The war
with Russia opened many doors, and made the people
much more responsive to the teaching of the Christian
religion. The leaders of the nation and other thoughtful
men are feeling the need of a new moral basis, and many of
them are looking to Christianity to furnish it.
Almost the whole population of Korea is now ready to
listen to the Gospel. The troubles through which these
people are passing are causing them to turn in great
numbers to Christianity for comfort and strength. Con-
tact with the outside world and the progress of education,
as w^eil as the teaching of the missionaries, have swept
away many deep-seated superstitions. The authorities
are conciliatory, and in some cases directly helpful, to the
Christian movement.
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 7
It is said that in no part of Manchuria is there open
hostihty to the Gospel. On the contrary there seems to
be a marked readiness and wilUngness to hear and to seek
to understand the Christian doctrine. Even in Mongolia
the people are more open and responsive to the Gospel
appeal than they were a decade ago. In nearly every
part of China there are signs that the stolid indifference
and the proud aloofness of the past are giving way. Not-
withstanding the opposition manifested by some of the
officials and other influential men, there is among the
people in general a large measure of open-mindedness to
what the teachers from the West may have to offer. The
native mind seems to be clearer as to the aims and motives
of the missionary. This does not necessarily imply that
there is a higher valuation put upon Christianity, but it
does mean that there is certainly less hostility manifested
toward its representatives. This is due chiefly to the
removal of ignorance, prejudice, and superstition by the
dissemination of knowledge, and to the inflaence of the
lives and teaching of the missionaries. A missionary,
writing from a province which until recently was one of
the most exclusive of China, says that he could not ask
for greater friendliness than that with which he now
meets from all classes of the people. He expresses the
opinion that in no land is there greater liberty for the
preaching of the Gospel. One missionary, writing from
one of the westernmost provinces of the country, says
that, in visiting 224 walled cities where he used to
encounter opposition, he now finds none.
A missionary secretary who recently visited all the
principal mission fields of Asia has stated that in no other
country of Asia except Korea are missionaries regarded
with greater friendliness by the people of all ranks than
in Siam. Throughout the island of Ceylon the wise
missionary can to-day, without serious difficulty, obtain
respectful audiences of non-Christian men for the presenta-
tion of the Gospel.
Owing to the great complexity of the situation on the
Indian continent it is difficult to express concisely the
8 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
situation throughout the whole field. By common con-
sent the masses of outcastes and lower castes are more
receptive to-day than ever. There is scarcely a limit to
the numbers who would place themselves under instruc-
tion by properly qualified Christian teachers. Many
untutored non-Aryan tribes are awakening to the call of
western civilisation, and are beginning to listen respon-
sively to the Gospel message. It is said that the women
of India of various castes are coming to have a realising
sense of their needs, and are seeking for education and
light. The zenanas are open to a degree which could not
have been foreseen a few years ago. There is a desire
among the men also, for the education of their daughters,
sisters, and wives. Here and there thoughtful, earnest,
spiritually-minded Hindus are reading the words of
Christ and seeking to understand Him. If Christian
intercourse with these important men could now be
multiplied, large numbers of them would be led into full
and open discipleship. It must not be forgotten that,
notwithstanding the well-known facts about the movement
toward Christ among the educated classes, gi'eat numbers
of them are rapidly passing into a condition of practical
agnosticism. There is most urgent need for more vigorous
and systematic effort on their behalf while they are yet in
a comparatively receptive attitude.
Workers among Moslems in India all testify that their
attitude toward Christ and His people is more friendly
and favourable than it was a generation ago. The
Parsees, owing to the increase of education and the friendly
work of missionaries, are more accessible and responsive
than theywere a fewyearsago. The situation in thevarious
native states throughout the Indian peninsula, as well
as in the states along the northern border, has improved
over what it was in the last generation. Notwithstanding
the many adverse influences and the more pronounced
hostility and opposition in certain quarters, it is un-
doubtedly true that, taking India as a whole, the field is
more open than it was twenty or even ten years ago.
The outlook for the spread of the Gospel in Arabia
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 9
demands a strong faith and a zeal that knows no dis-
couragement, but it is hopeful, and is growing more
so year by year as a result of political developments and
of the new railway. It is reported that the Moslems in
the Russian Empire are approachable. Great external
changes have taken place in the Turkish Empire during
the past two years. Even if attention is confined ex-
clusively to the Moslem population, there is satisfactory
evidence that work on their behalf, if wisely and prudently
conducted, is now possible to a degree which would have
been incredible two years ago. Many restrictions have
been removed with reference to travel, the holding of
meetings, the printing and circulation of literature, and
the conduct of schools. Moslems and non-Moslems have
been placed upon an equal footing before the law and
in the rights of citizenship. This fact alone inaugurates,
a new era. Mohammedans in these lands have _never
had an opportunity to understand and accept pure
Christianity. Missionaries in different parts of Turkey
report a willingness on the part of Mohammedans to attend
Christian gatherings in large numbers, to talk about
Christianity, and to study it in its simplicity and purity.
The same thing can be said of the Moslems of Persia.
Much is possible there now, provided the work be
developed gradually and in a friendly and conciliatory
spirit. Some missionaries believe that prior to a vigorous
campaign of evangelisation what is most needed at the
present time is to promote the work of educational missions.
Throughout the larger part of the vast African continent
there is a great and pressing opportunity for the presenta-
tion of the claims of Christ. In Mohammedan Africa
indeed there is considerable hindrance from Government
opposition or restrictions. Moslem intolerance has still
to be reckoned with among the people, but this intoler-
ance is weakening, and, as the missionaries wisely adapt
themselves to the conditions, the way is becoming more
and more open. In Pagan Africa not only is the way
open, but those to whom the way leads are awaiting the
arrival of the messengers. We have been unable to learn
I) CARRYING Tine (;OSPKL
I a;jy extensive fi<ji<l Ihrou/^lioiil llif. {^r«;at Isl.m'l World
'lji<:}j is absoluUily closed lo l}i<; wise .'unl ddvolcd iini-
assador of Jcsiis Christ.
VV)j<rn iji Die history of our religion has the ("hristian
hureh Ih'mu ooulronted with surh a wide oppo/l unity
s the orje now befonj her in tin; non-Christian world as
wh(;l<; ? As always, opj;ortunity spells resj)onsibilily,
lid this unparallel<;<l openness <;orn<;s to ns as a great
.;st and frial of Ihe lealityand <he living str<;nglh of our
lifh, and of our rapacity for coniprehcn-ivt! rhriifian
lal<;snianshij) and gein-ialsliip.
2. It is possihh; lo-day as nev«;r l;if<)i<- to have a (;am-
aign adequate lo carry the(jospe] loall Ihe non-(^hristian
/orld so jar us the, CJtrisUan ('/iiirch is concerned. Hi
'•sources are nj(;re Iha/i adequate. I here are tens of
lillions of connnunicant niendntrs. TIm; n)oney j)ower
i llx' h.iii'l;, ol believing (^Inistian.s ol oui gttneration is
nonnoiis. I h(;r(! are many strong missionary societies
nd boards in l'Jiroj)e, Anieiica, Austrahisia, and South
diica, .iml lli'-y h;ive acc;uniulat(;d a vast fund ol rxprri-
UCe, .'ui'l h:ive d<!Velop<'(| a great vaiidy ol h(||.liil
u;lhods and facilititts thrtnigh gcrnerations ol activity
hri>ui;hout t h<^ woihL Surely tiiey poss(;ss dirccMive
ner>;y auq»ly suIIk ieni to conceive, plan, and ex<!cule a
anq)aif;u lilemlly worl'l-wi(I<t in its scope. TIk; <;xt(!nt,
li:iract(M" :iiiil I'louiise ol the native < liii,li;Hi Cliurch
uake ii by no me.-iii'; :in iuelhcienl jt.iil ol the I'ody of
hN.'.l.
Allenlion iiliouM be (:ille(i lo Ihe abouil'lilig eiiei/^y
ii'l I Klin ii<l<»us possibilities of the inspiring inoviMuents
econtly called into beuig lo l;i( ilitale the realisation of
III- aims ol Ihe niission.ii y )tiopa/;anda ; for examph;,
Ik' Sludent Vohmlecr Moveiiietit ; the more compre-
lensive World's SliKJent (inistian I'Vdeiation ; the
''oreign I )ep;ii imeiil', <»l the Young Men's and Young
Vomen's ("hiistian A.ssocialions ; the Young I'eople's
klissionary Movement ; the; L.-iyuKMi's Missionary Move-
iient ; :uit| the ellicient women'.s missionary sociitt ies ;
lie various l'"orvvai(l Movements within dilteront Christian
OPrOUTUNlTY AND URGKNTY 11
cotnmiinions ; tlic^ann}* of youth in tlic SmuU\y Schools,
;uul various young people's so(ii>ties and puiKls. The
Holy Spirit has certainly been prejiarin;^ ami niarshalling
the forces for a canipaign eonuuensurate with the mis-
sionary responsibility of the Church. Above all these
are the superhuman resources : the dynamic power of the
Gospel of Christ ; the unrealised jnrssibilities of inter-
cession ; the triumjihant power of lu^ly lives — Uses
ilnrcscrveiUy yicKled to the sway of the risen Christ ; ami
the i^resenceof Cht ist Himself in His Churt h b\- llisSpirit.
the One who is able to subdue all thim-.s mdo Himself.
Thus, as the followers of Christ look outwartl ov(M" the
f;reat areas of the non-Christian world, and then tmu to
survey the resources of Christendom, and to j^.i/e by
f litli ujion their superhuman resouices, can they question
the jiossibility to-day of making Christ kiunvn tn .dl
people ?
II. nil-: HKC.KNCV in vii;w di- ruKSHNT tknprnciks and
MOVIMI'NTS IN TlIK NON-CHHISTIAN KHI.I(;U)NS
I. The non-Christian rcli'^ions arc losing;, their hohi on
certain classes. Missionaries who have been on the field
from twentv to tortv years bear testimony th.it tin*
intluence of the non-Christian religions, especially oxer
the educated classes, is waiiinf^'. whethrr they contiast
the jiower of these religions to-day with what it w.is Ji
generation ago, or whether tliey cotitrasi the place and
infUience of tliese religions with lii il d Christianity.
Rud<lhism still has a mighty hold on the illiler.ite
masses of Slam, Laos, Hurma, and Ceylon, and to a con-
siderable extent also of Japan, Korea, and China. Never-
theless, in most of these countries, particularly in (lima
and Jajian, there are unmistakable signs that this grip
is relaxing. There are many and imill i|»Iving instances
where the [)eo[)le have al)olishe(l idols and forsaki-n tho
temjiles, although they may not yet have accepted some
other religion as a substitute. In the cities Buddhism
has far less influence even with the illiterate clas.scs than
12 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
it has in the rural districts. In all of the countries named
there are very few educated men who profess belief in
Buddhism as a regulative, transforming, and energising
influence in tlieir lives. Without doubt, however, large
numbers of them have a deep interest in Buddhism as a
philosophy and as a subject of study, and hold to it
tenaciously on grounds of national or racial patriotism.
Strictly speaking, Confucianism cannot be regarded as
a religion. Ancestor-v.'orship, as upheld by Confucian-
ism, whether we consider it a religion or not, still has a
tremendous hold on multitudes of people in China and
neighbouring countries. Confucianism, however, has
been modified. The wonderful awakening in China and
Korea during the past few years is turning the faces
of the people away from the past to the future. This is
notably true of the present generation of students.
As a social s^^stem the power of Hinduism is still very
great, although the spirit of caste is relaxing in many
places, and even its regulations and outer forms are
less scrupulously observed than formerly, especially in the
cities. Missionaries and other observers writing from
all sections of India emphasise the fact that compara-
tively few of the educated classes adhere to Hinduism
in an unmodified form, and that not many of them have
a vital faith in it as a religion, though most of them partly
desire and partly find themselves forced to adhere to it as
a system of social and ethical life. A leading Scottish
missionary of many years' experience has said that
nowadays no bona fide idolater is to be found among
university men. Their adherence to idolatrous cere-
monies is either formal from fear of society, or is defended
on the ground that such practices are a help to concen-
tration of thought on religion. The students as a class
are becoming freed from the religious and social restraints
of old India, and, in Sir William Hunter's words, are left
" witliout discipline, without contentment, and without
God."
Mohammedanism has as strong a hold on its adherents
as has any other non-Christian religion. Apparently its
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 13
grip is not relaxing so far as the more illiterate classes are
concerned, save in parts of Turkey, Persia, Western China,
and the East Indies ; but it is weakening in the case of
the educated and better informed men. Statistics show
that the proportionate increase in the number of Moham-
medans in India has been by no means as rapid as that of
the Christians. In parts of Turkey a loosening of
the ties that bind many Mohammedans to their religion
is evident. The newly proclaimed principles of liberty
and the Koran are not found to be suitable yoke-fellows.
Notwithstanding the aggressive advance of Moham-
medanism in some quarters of the world, as a religion it
is making no marked intellectual or spiritual progress,
and therefore it is not able to command the full allegiance
of many of its adherents, who are studying the modern
learning. It seems to lack creative energy. The philo-
sophical disintegration of Islam, shown in the rise of new
sects and parties, is another indication of weakness.
The application of modern critical methods in India and
elsewhere is serving to undermine faith in the Koran,
so that it is no uncommon thing to find Moslems who
concede that this book does not have permanent authority
in the realm of morals. Low ethical ideals, the degrada-
tion of womanhood, and a fatalistic philosophy have
steadily brought Moslem society to its present low level
of intellect and character.
It is not necessary here to dwell further on the causes
explaining the weakening of the non-Christian religions.
The principal point to be emphasised is that this breaking-
up of the old faiths and their failure to satisfy the deepest
longings and highest aspirations of men impose a serious
responsibility upon the Christian Church. The danger is
that, released from the restraints of their old religions,
these peoples will give themselves up entirely to irreligion,
indifference, and demoralising practices. The dying-out
of old superstitions leaves hearts " empty, swept, and
garnished," either for the Gospel or for the seven spirits
more evil than the first.
3, In some parts of the world the non-Christian religions
14 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
are attempting to adapt themselves to modern conditions, and,
are manijesting increased activity, enterprise, and aggressive-
ness.
Notwithstanding all that has been said about the waning
influence of the non-Christian religions over certain classes,
it is true that in many countries there are evidences of
increased activity in the non-Christian religions, and that
efforts are being put forth to regain and strengthen
their influence over classes who have been slipping away
from their grasp, and to extend their sway over peoples
who have hitherto not been reached by them.
The revival of Buddhism is particularly noticeable in
Japan, Burma, and Ceylon. This is seen in many ways.
Temples and shrines have been renovated in some districts.
The priests are manifesting greater activity. Most inter-
esting is the semi-Christian modification of the methods
and practices and to some extent the ideas of Buddh-
ism. There are regular preaching-places where Buddhist
preachers now expound their doctrines. The number of
Buddhist schools and colleges is multipl5'ing, especially
in Ceylon and Burma. A large Buddhist college has been
planned for Tokio. Young Men's Buddhist Associations,
Young Women's Buddhist Associations, and Buddhist
guilds have sprung up here and there. Special work has
been inaugurated on behalf of children, such as Sunday
schools, catechism classes, and religious instruction in clay
schools. Some ^uddhist orphanages have been estab-
lished to prevent destitute children from seeking admission
into Christian institutions. The press is also being largely
used. Manuals of instruction, tracts, pamphlets and
books are being used in large numbers. Better training
is being afforded the priests, especially in Japan. A large
Buddhist theological school has been established in Kioto,
and young men are flocking there from all quarters.
The most energetic workers, as well as the most generous
givers, are the laymen. The most notable fact, however,
is that Buddhism is seeking not only to defend itself but
also to take the offensive or aggressive attitude. The
Japanese Buddhists have organised a missionary society
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 15
and have sent workers even to the mainland of Asia. In
Burma the Buddhists are being reinforced by many con-
verts from among the hill tribes. It is reported also that
among the adherents of Buddhism in Ceylon and Burma
are several Europeans. A general Buddhist society in
Rangoon is raising funds for the translation of the Pali
Buddhist scriptures into English, for spreading Buddhism
in London, and for bringing out from lEngland a number
of Englishmen to enter the Buddhist priesthood.
In spite of all the activity and the introduction of new
and important methods and the development of the spirit
of propaganda, there is apparently little serious effort
made to purify Buddhism of its corruptions. Rather
they are condoned and explained away. One of the most
serious aspects of the Buddhist revival is the attempt
made to identify Buddhism with patriotism and to urge
upon people that loyalty to the country implies loyalty
to this religion. To meet this revival of the ancient
religion it is necessary that we be able to place Christianity
more effectively before the people.
Attention should be called to many new sects which
are springing up in Japan and China. In Japan in recent
years a new religion called Tenrikyo has come into
vogue. It is neither avowedly Buddhist nor apparently
idolatrous. There' seems to be som^e thing attractive about
it to the common people, for it is claimed that it already
has between three and four millions of adherents. It
has grown so rapidly that lately official recognition has
been accorded to it by the Government. The growth of
these sects is a sign of the unrest among the people and
of their religious longings. It is a call to Christianity to
come to their relief.
There is a very resolute effort being made by many of
the most influential men in China to exalt Confucia ism
with its excellent ethical system above Christianity,
which is belittled as a foreign religion. A comparatively
recent edict raised Confucius to the rank of deity.
Hitherto the worship of Confucius has been regarded as
paying respect to the teacher par excellence — the Sage of
16 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
China. He is now exalted to equal rank with Heaven,
possibly in order to give him a place corresponding to that
of Jesus Christ in the worship of the West. This is
significant, not as indicative of an increasing influence
exerted by Confucius, but rather of a desire to conserve
the influence manifestly waning as modern learning
discloses his superstitions and ignorance of fundamental
facts. According to imperial edict, divine honours are
to be offered to him by officials and by Government
students. Without this adoration of Confucius young
men are not permitted to study in schools recognised by
the Government and are excluded from holding Govern-
ment offices. Those working on behalf of the educated
classes find that the principal obstacle is this obligatory
adoration of Confucius and the disabilities suffered by
those who do not comply with the requirement. In a
country like China exclusion from the official classes is
regarded as a very serious matter, and until this obstacle
is removed missionary effort on behalf of the educated
classes will be carried on under a serious handicap.
Hinduism is manifesting increased antagonism to
Christianity. In chfferent parts of India there is a
revival of orthodox Hinduism as contrasted with the
Neo-Hindu propaganda. This doubtless means more
opposition, and yet it indicates, too, that the people are
getting alarmed, and testifies to the progress which its
opponents see that Christianity is making. In this light
the revival of Hinduism is inevitable and desirable. It
will in the end only hasten the progress of Christianity,
as was the case in the Roman Empire. Wherever there
is strong opposition it is a sign that the minds of the
people are occupied with the subject, and this enlarges
the opportunity for Christian work. The Hindus, like
the ■ Buddhists, have been quick to learn Christian
methods of religious propaganda. They are meeting the
Christian methods by imitating the same in the interests
of their own faith. They send out street preachers who
give themselves largely to antagonising Christianity,
rather than to promulgating Hindu doctrines. They
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 17
have a tract society and issue many publications. They
have Young Men's Hindu Associations and various other
organisations patterned after Christian activities. That
they have become alarmed by the inroads of Christianity
is seen from the following extract taken from a pamphlet
issued by the Hindu Tract Society and designed to
arouse Hindus to sharper opposition : " Do you not
know that the number of the Christians is increasing
and the number of Hindu religionists decreasing every
day ? How long will water remain in a reservoir which
continually lets out but receives none in ? Let all the
people join as one man to banish Christianity from our
lands." One of the best indications of the new spirit
of the Hindus is the aggressive efforts which they are
putting forth to influence the outcastes. They are trying
to raise the downtrodden classes and to give them a
certain definite standing in the Hindu community.
They are also seeking to influence the aboriginal tribes
in the Hill Districts. If these and the outcastes become
merged in the Hindu system, they will be much less
accessible to Christian influences than they are at
present.
The ferment which Christianity has created among
the educated classes of India is apparent even on the
surface, but one of the most marked tendencies may be
discerned in those schools of Neo-Hinduism which have
developed during the past few decades. The most
important of these are the Arya Samaj, chiefly in the
Punjab and the United Provinces ; the Brahmo Samaj,
in Bengal ; the Theosophists, principally in Southern
India ; and the Radha Swamis, m Northern India.
They differ in many respects, but they are alike in the
respect that they have all been influenced by Christianity
and have adopted Christian expressions and methods,
and that they all magnify certain points of Hinduism.
Chief among these movements in point of activity and
influence is the Arya Samaj. While its leaders may
condemn the practices of Hinduism and may adopt
many of the principles and teachings and methods of
COM. I. — 2
18 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Christianity, they still remain within the pale of Hinduism
and earnestly oppose the Christian movement. They
have grown rapidly. They have schools and colleges,
missionaries, and societies. They advocate the education
of women, reject idolatry, and seek to reduce the number
of castes. Though remorseless in their antagonism to
Christianity, they mark a distinct advance upon popular
Hinduism, and, in the judgment of many missionaries,
are preparing the way of the Lord. Mr. Holland, the
leader of the Oxford-Cambridge Hostel at Allahabad,
expresses this well : " The ideas which the Arya Samaj
raises without ability to satisfy them, and the manifest
contradictions of its system, mean a not remote collapse
into the arms of Christianity." They are just now
putting forth great efforts to influence the low-caste people.
They do not really give them any new religion, but they
fill their minds with prejudices against the foreigners, and
strive on patriotic grounds to keep the people in subjection
to Hinduism. Just in proportion to their success in
convincing these outcaste portions of the population
that they may hope for recognition from the Hindus,
will the door of Christian opportunity close. H
Christian work for these depressed classes could soon
be multiplied tenfold, this great section of the Indian
people, numbering one-fifth of the population, would,
within a generation, embrace Christianity in immense
numbers.
Of all the non-Christian religions Mohammedanism
exhibits the greatest solidarity and the most activity
and aggressiveness, and it is conducting a more widespread
propaganda at the present time than any other religion
save Christianity. In the Turkish Empire there has
recently been a recrudescence of Moslem fanaticism.
The forces that brought about the reactionary events
of the Spring of 1909 and that were responsible for the
Cilician massacres were grouped under a so-called
Mohammedan League. It is intensely antagonistic to
the spread of the Gospel among Moslems. The bigoted
are becoming more bigoted. The Mohammedan League
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 19
just referred to was intended by Abdul Hamid to intensify
Moslem fanaticism and hatred of Christians, and its
members, though now in hiding, form the body of the
old orthodox party who look down with scorn upon all
other sects. Islam is linking itself up with the atheism
and deism of western lands, and is securing much
protection and also added prestige by the support it
receives at the hands of officials from the West who have
broken with Christianity. These men carry over to the
Moslem camp all the armoury of the deistic and atheistic
schools.
In India, the greatest Mohammedan country, there is
a renaissance of Islam. The power of the Prophet is
still great, and Islam is ready to receive and seal per-
petually, as her own, Hindus of low-caste who lose faith
in their own religion or seek to better their condition.
They are pushing their propaganda, sending out preachers
and working hard to convert the low-caste and out-caste
people. Their advance in India is proved by the increase
m Mohammedan population in India by about six
millions in the ten years preceding the last census. In
some parts of the country large bodies of these depressed
classes and also numbers of the hill tribes have gone
over to Islam. It is many fold more difficult to reach
them now for Christ than it was before. Dr. Ewing
of Lahore expresses the belief that unless the Church
avails itself of the marvellous opportunity now presented
by the tens of millions of low-caste people, within the
next ten years the bulk of them who have not been
given a status in relation to the Hindus will have become
Mohammedan. This would render them comparatively
inaccessible to Christian influence.
While there is no serious danger that China will become
a Moslem state, nevertheless the Church of Christ
should be forewarned and should lose no time in bringing
to bear more of its power upon the Moslem population
of West China, because Mohammedanism is there
manifesting fresh interest and vigour. Moreover, even
in other parts of China, in Chilili for example, there are
20 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
similar indications of activity. The Moslems of Russia
are showing great zeal.
In the East Indies, Islam, which for a long time was
but a mere veneer, is daily becoming a more pervasive
and dominant faith. Greatly increased travel to Mecca,
brought about by better means of communication and
lower rates, is compacting Mohammedanism among the
Malays. The returned pilgrims become henceforth
ardent defenders and propagators of the faith. In
Sumatra, Islam is advancing into hitherto pagan
territories. Had Christian missionary work been prose-
cuted vigorously a generation ago, Islam would not
have gained such a strong foothold there. In Java,
Mohammedanism shows new life in the establish-
ment of a Moslem university, and in the production of
an edition of the Koran in Javanese. The number
of teachers of the Koran is multiplying greatly. The
inhabitants are coming more and more under the influence
of Mohammedanism, and are thus being made more
inaccessible to the work of the Dutch missionaries.
Unless the Church promptly does more to meet the
desire for education and enlightenment, there is danger
that the population will more and more accept Mo-
hammedanism.
Two forces are contending for Africa — Christianity
and Mohammedanism. In many respects the more
aggressive of these is Mohammedanism. If things
continue as they are now tending, Africa may become
a Mohammedan continent. Mohammedanism comes to
the African people as a higher religion than their own,
with the dignity of an apparently higher civilisation
and of world power. It is rapidly received by these
eager listeners. Once received, it is Christianity's most
formidable enemy. It permits a laxity of morals, in
some cases worse than that of heathendom. It sanctions
polygamy. It breeds pride and arrogance, and thus
hardens the heart against the Word of God. It is
spread by those who do not differ essentially from the
natives in their ideas and emotions, whereas Christianity,
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 21
until a force of native workers can be prepared, must be
spread by Europeans who differ greatly from the natives.
The absorption of native races into Is; am is proceeding
rapidly and continuously in practically all parts of the
continent. The Commission has had convincing evidence
of this fact brought to its attention by missionaries
along the Nile, in East Central Africa, in South-East
Africa, on different parts of the West Coast, in Northern
Nigeria, in the Sudan, in different parts of the Congo
Basin, in parts lying south of the Congo, and even in
South Africa. Mohammedan traders are finding their
way into the remotest parts of the continent, and it is
well knowm that every Mohammedan trader is more or
less a Mohammedan missionary. The result of this
penetration of the field by these representatives of
Islam will be that the Christian missionary enterprise
will year by year become more difficult. Paganism is
doomed. Animistic faiths crumble quickly before any
higher and more dogmatic religion. Either Christianity
or Islam will prevail throughout Africa. Islam is push-
ing hard to win the pagan states and peoples. Some
missionary statesmen believe that Africa for the present
has a pre-eminent claim on the attention and resources
of those missionary societies which are related to the
regions in which the ]\Ioslem advance is imminent.
The challenge which comes to the Church now, is not
only to occupy the great fields of Africa, Southern Asia,
and Oceania which are so threatened by the Mohammedan
advance, but also to press as never before upon the
Mohammedans themselves the peaceful message of the
Christian Gospel. The aggressive strategy has ever been
the most successful. Moreover, we owe the Gospel to the
Moslems no less than to the other non-Christian peoples.
III. THE URGENCY IN VIEW OF CORRUPTING INFLUENCES
IN WESTERN CIVILISATION
Just as the development of improved means of com-
munication has greatly facilitated the propagation of
22 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the Gospel and the sending forth of the pure and hopeful
influences of western civilisation, so the drawing together
of the nations and races as a result of these improv^ements
has made possible the more rapid spread of influences
antagonistic to the extension of Christ's Kingdom.
They have familiarised a vast and increasing number
of non-Christian peoples with the worst forms and
practices of western life. In every port, as well as
in many interior cities of non-Christian nations, one
finds concentrated the evil influences of the West.
Scattered throughout Africa and the Pacific Islands,
not to mention other sections of the world, are thousands
of western traders, large numbers of whom are exerting
a demoralising influence. Testimony is borne by many
with reference to the corrupt influence of Japanese
merchants and emigrants in Korea, Manchuria, and
China, who are also regarded as representing in a measure
the civilisation of the West.
The multiplying of points of contact with the West
through the expansion of its commercial and industrial
system has introduced among non-Christian peoples
new temptations, and has added intensity and virulence
to old temptations. The increase of the drink evil
and of gross immorality in many parts of the world
is traceable directly to the W^est. With the influx
of European civilisation into Africa and Asia there
seems to have come a flood of pernicious influences,
of vice, and of disease. The growth of habits of
.luxury and self-indulgence is also due to the im-
jproved financial situation of these peoples, incident to
'the spread of western civilisation. It is commented
upon by many observers, that whenever an eastern and
a western nation impinge upon each other the contact in
some mysterious way tends to bring out the worst there is
in each. The vices of western life seem to work with added
deadliness among men of the more simple civilisations,
such as those found in Africa, in Oceania, and in parts
of Asia, It is a sad but inevitable fact that as a rule
the masses of the non-Christian people, and even many
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 23
of their leaders, do not discriminate between the genuine
Christians who come from western countries, such as
missionaries and sincere and worthy Christian laymen
in commercial and Government pursuits, and the vicious
representatives of the West who go among them. It is
not strange, therefore, that the following challenge is
a typical expression of the opinion of a great multitude
of Asiatics and Africans : " You come to us with your'
religion. You degrade our people with drink. You
scorn our religion, in many points like your own, and
then you wonder why Christianity makes such slow
progress among us, I will tell you : It is because you 1
are not like your Christ."
As the corrupt influences which have been mentioned
constitute a deadly gift from the modern civilisation of
the West, it is doubly incumbent on the Church to supply
the antidote to such evil influences and to spread itself
more widely among the people. Moreover, it is unmis-
takably the will of God that the missionary movement
be extended promptly and far more aggressively and
widely in order that the cause of Christianity may pre-
empt great regions and countless communities to which
tlie vices and diseases of corrupt civilisation have not
yet spread. The large plans for the extension of rail-
way systems in different parts of Asia and Africa
accentuate the urgency of the situation, because the 4
advent of railways will bring a large influx of ungodly
men, who will make the task of evangelisation much more
difficult. It has always been true that while men slept
the enemy came and sowed tares. This point has added
force when applied to the peoples of Africa and the Pacific
Islands. There are but a few primitive races or peoples ^"
left in the world, and the opportunity afforded the Christian
Church to reach them under most favourable conditions
can last but a brief season. The present opportunity
will pass away. Every year will bring new and powerful
counter attractions within easy reach of the natives. The
wise and experienced missionary workers show convinc-
ingly that it is much easier to bring the Gospel to bea,r
24: CARRYING THE GOSPEL
on the heathen in his natural state than it is upon the
man who has become familiar with the worst side of
so-called civilisation.
Attention should also be called to the bad effects
resulting from the spread of infidel and rationalistic
ideas and materialistic views. From many parts of the
non-Christian world have come reports from our corre-
spondents telling of the wide dissemination of agnostic,
atheistic, materialistic, and socialistic (of a destructive
character) literature, traceable to western sources.
The stream of this influence is flowing over China to-day,
both directly from the West and also by way of Japan.
The writings of Haeckel, Huxley, and Spencer, and the
anti-theistic and anti-Christian articles, either original or
translated from European magazines, are widely circulated
not only in India and Japan, but also in such newly
awakened countries as Turkey and China. The periodicals
of the non-Christian religions are active and aggressive in
publishing papers showing supposed mistakes in the Bible
and the conclusions of destructive criticism.
The increasing number of travellers from non-Christian
nations, especially the wonderful migration of Oriental
students to Europe and America, has in countless cases
resulted in exposing these more enterprising representa-
tives of the non-Christian world to the materialistic,
j anti-Christian, and demoralising sides of the life of the
' ' western nations. On their return, some of them as
teachers, editors, and Government officials constitute a
Jf great barrier to the spread of the Gospel. This has been
notably true of many Chinese and Korean students on
their return from Japan. Moreover, there is danger that
the thousands of Japanese teachers who are going into
Korea, Manchuria, and China will be apostles of materialism
instead of being helpful in influencing the people in
favour of Christianity. Facts like these constitute an
irresistible challenge to the Christian Church to augment
greatly its foreign missionary forces and to spread these
forces with promptness, thoroughness, and great energy
over the non-Christian world. Moreover, they summon
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 25
to a well- conceived and supreme, effort to Christianise
more largely the impact of Christendom upon the non-
Christian world. To this end more adequate efforts
are required, not only to surround the representatives of
our commerce and industries vath strong Christian
influences as they go forth to reside in distant port citfes,
but also to make sure that the principles and spirit of
Jesus Christ dominate all our social, political, and inter-
national relations with the peoples and Governm.ents of
non-Christian nations. The missionary forces cannot
win the non-Christian world for Christ until Christian
nations and the new world movements of all kinds are
more thoroughly permeated with the spirit of Christ.
Only the rdigion commended by_the most convincing
examples in dominating individual and social .Jife and
commercial and international relations will be earnestly
sought after and permanently accepted.
IV. THE URGENCY IN VIEW OF THE PLASTIC CONDITION OF
NON-CHRISTIAN NATIONS
The Asiatic peoples, following the leadership of Japan,
have awakened from their long sleep. Through the whole
of Asia a ferment is in process which has spread from the
intellectual leaders and is fast taking possession of the
masses of the people themselves. It affects over three -_
fom-ths of the human race, including^^ peoples of high
intelligence and ancient civilisation. The leaders are
concerned with the question of enlightenment, of in-
tellectual and social freedom, of economic development,
and of national efficienc5\ In all history there has not
been a period when such vast multitudes of people were
in the midst of such stupendous changes, social, com-
mercial, industrial, educational, and religious. Korea
was known yesterday as the Land of the Morning Calm.
To-day it is vibrating with the spirit of the modern
world. Every department of its life is being reorganised
with Japan as the model and the directing and energising
mind.
26 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
China, which for thousands of years has been self-
centred and self-satisfied, has turned her face from the
past and has begun to go to school to the world. The
changeless has given place to the changing ; and the
number and variety of the changes are bewildering.
A network of telegraph wires has been spread over the
Empire, several railway lines have already been established
and others are projected, great industrial establishments
are multiplying, comprehensive plans for the conservation
and development of the material resources are being put
in operation, a modern postal system has been adopted,
the first stage in preparation for constitutional govern-
ment has been entered upon, radical and far-reaching
social reforms are advancing apace, hundreds of modern
newspapers have been established in cities all over
the country, secular and religious presses are working
to their limit in bringing out new works and translations
of the books of important authors of western nations.
All these changes seem incredible in view of the con-
stitution of the Chinese mind and its unchanging attitude
through centuries. In some ways the most significant
and wonderful changes have been those in connection
with education. The ancient system, which had been
in operation for nearly two thousand years, has been
completely abandoned, and in place of it there are spring-
ing up all over the Empire modern schools and colleges.
Hundreds of teachers are being imported from Japan
and the West, and thousands of ambitious Chinese youths
are going to Japan, America, and Europe to prepare
themselves for the leadership of the new China.
Siam and Laos are in a condition of metamorphosis.
Persia also is sharing in the general awakening of the
East and is undergoing a great transformation. The old
is passing away ; the new is yet unformed. It is prim-
arily a movement to establish civil freedom and to secure
social progress. The aim is to establish a constitutional
and popular form of government. Schools are springing
up all over the country for the purpose of giving the new
education. Even in Turkestan and Afghanistan the
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 27
spirit of the modern movement is felt. Some families
are sending their sons to other lands for education.
These on their return spread the ideas and spirit of
western civilisation.
Turkey is another striking example of change. In
some respects the recent Turkish revolution has been the
most remarkable which has ever taken place in any
nation. The autocracy has been done away with and a
modern constitution has been granted. The key-notes
of the revolution have been " Liberty, Equality, Frater-
nity, and Justice." Great social and educational
changes have resulted. The whole population is awake
and thinking as never before. The bondage of custom
has been shaken. New literature is pouring into the
country. The mails have more than doubled in volume.
Meetings for the discussion of topics pertaining to the
development of the country are being held. Even the
pulpit has become the forum of social and political dis-
cussion, although this may well prove to be a hindrance
to real religious progress. The fraternising of members
of different religions is regarded by those familiar with
the old attitude and spirit as highly significant. Not-
withstanding the counter-revolution and the waves of
reaction, it is clear that Turkey has set her face toward
modern civilisation, and that no influences are likely to
arise and prove powerful enough long to retard her in
her progress. Quite apart from the political movement
and agitation and unrest throughout India, the multi-
tudes of that continent are still in the midst of great
social and industrial developments and changes. Con-
trary to the popular impression, Japan also was never
more alert and intense in her desire and efforts to reform
and increase her efficiency than at the present time.
Similar facts could be mentioned showing the revolutions,
transformations, and rapid evolution in the Island World
and in parts of Africa.
This state of flux among all these peoples constitutes y-
a great crisis and opportunity. The present plastic
condition of these nations wiU not long continue. It will
28 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
be replaced by a more rigid and unyielding one. The
present period of reconstruction will give place to some
settled order. A country like China, because of the
fundamental conservatism of the Chinese character,
although it may be changing to-day is not changeable,
and therefore may not change again in generations.
It is true of any of these nations that when it once becomes
settled it will be harder to move and to impress it than
while it is in a transitional state. The great question
with reference to aU of these countries is, Shall they be
dominated by Jesus Christ and His religion or not ? Is
their new civilisation to be cast in Christian or in pagan,
moulds ? Unless the principles and spirit of Christ
do shape the new civilisation it is sure to become material-
istic and rationalistic. Move than this, these nations
are sure to become increasingly antagonistic and hostile
to pure religion and to constitute the most serious
obstacles to the spread of the Kingdom of Christ. Those
who have studied the matter closely are convinced that
among the leaders of these nations are many who are
anxious to secure all the material advantages of western
civilisation while excluding its underl5dng principles and
inspiration. Now is the time to impress upon their
officials and other thinking men that it is only righteous-
ness and integrity of character that can make a nation
permanently great, and that these are the direct products
of the Christian Gospel. No policy could be more dis-
astrous than for the Christian Church to allow any people
to become civilised without bringing the superhuman
Gospel to bear upon them in their transition state.
Whether or not Christianity shaU have the predominant
influence in the making of the new India, the new China,
the new Korea, the new Turkey, the new Persia, wDl
soon be determined by the Church's sacrifice or by its
inertia. Some of these nations, like China, are weak now,
notwithstanding the fact that they possess the elements
necessary to give them a place among the strongest of
nations. Their strength will soon be organised. It is
all-important that Christianity be deeply rooted in these
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 29
lands before that day comes. Many missionaries report
their conviction that if the tide is not set toward Chris-
tianity during the next decade both in the Far East and
the Near East, it may be turned against us in the decade
following.
V. THE URGENCY IN VIEW OF MODERN SECULAR
EDUCATION
In the two most advanced non-Christian nations,
Japan and India, there are to-day great Government
systems of education, including hundreds of thousands
of students. With the exception of the mission schools
and colleges of India aided by Government, these are
pronouncedly secular. China and Korea are rapidly r'
establishing similar systems. That of China alone will
;oon number its pupils and students by the million.
The Governments of Turkey, Persia, Egypt, and other
non-Christian countries are rapidly developing secular
educational institutions. From these, of course. Christian
teaching is excluded. In Japan, as no religious instruc-
tion is received in most of the homes, the educated
portion of the population is already largely natural-
istic and agnostic. Few of the Government school
educators have any use for religion. Hence a process
is going on which will make it increasingly difficult
for the Gospel to find entrance to the minds of the edu-
cated Japanese. The modern education inevitably ^ .
undermines belief in the old non-Christian faiths and ^^'
leaves the rising generation practically without religion. ^-c,,j
The text-books in these modern institutions are _, in-.
different, if not actually hostile, to rehgion. The
men educated in the Government schools under non-
Christian or hostile influence thus drift into agnosticism
and materialism and become a great menace to the
Church. ^
In China, " Science without Christianity " is the watch-
word of many students. The aspiration for new learning
seems to be fixing the minds of the Chinese upon the
30 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
materialistic aspects of our modern civilisation. The
Chinese accept quickly the agnostic explanations of the
universe. They are apt to receive the impression that
religion is not necessary to the life of a nation. As they
^ are by nature an eminently practical people, when
through the study of science they see the folly of their
old superstitions they will give them up, and, unless
influenced by Christianity, will be apt to put nothing
in their place. This consideration is a strong ground
for calling for immediate and aggressive efforts to supply
I that which we know to be the really essential thing in
our modern civilisation ; namely, the truth and power
of Christ. Among the educated youth of China there
is a real stirring of thought, and at such a time new truth
comes with power and authority. This is pre-eminently
the time to reach them with Christian truth. The latest
scientific truth may be so presented along with the
Gospel as to show how all truth is one, thus leading to the
acceptance of the Gospel with science. The great demand
for western learning and the difficulty which the Chinese
• Government is experiencing in securing a sufficient
number of competent teachers, affords a great opening
to Christian schools and colleges. There should be a
great expansion of Christian educational missions. It
is western education that the Chinese are clamouring
for, and wiU have. If we can give it to them, plus
Christianity, they will take it ; if we cannot give it
to them, they will get it elsewhere, without Christianity
— and that speedily. If in addition to direct evangelistic
and philanthropic work in China, the Church can in
the next decade train several thousands of Christian
teachers, it will be in a position to meet this unparalleled
opportunity. In Siam the Government is starting free
schools, but it is still possible to sustain an important
relation to higher education, if the Church will but main-
tain its present advantage.
Pandita Ramabai, writing of India, says : " The
majority of the higher classes are getting western secular
_ education, which is undermining their faith in their
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 31
ancestral religion. They are not getting anything
better to take the place of the old religion in their hearts,
and are therefore without God, without hope, without
Christ, going down socially and morally, and becoming
very irreligious." This crisis in India calls for a greatly
increased number of efficient mission schools and colleges,
manned with earnest Christian teachers, conducted so
far as possible on the residential plan, with the view to
giving the Spirit of God as carefully prepared an oppor-
tunity as possible, so that He may create an atmosphere
in which His power will be mightily felt. The unrest
of the educated classes calls not only for a strengthening
of the missionary institutions, especially in the direction of
making their Christian influence more effective, but also
for a multiplication at student centres of wisely planned
efforts directed to influence those of the educated class
after leaving college as well as the students now in non-
missionary colleges. If Christians do not rise to the
occasion, educated Hindus and Mohammedans will
take things into their own hands and provide for edu-
cational and philanthropic institutions to be established
and carried on under non-Christian management.
The great desire of the constitutional party in Turkey
seems to be to establish a system of education like that
of France, excluding all mention of God and religion.
Facts like these could be drawn from all other sections
of the non-Christian world where secular institutions
of learning have been established. Taken together,
they bring before us one of the greatest menaces to the
Christian faith, and in many respects the greatest obstacle
in the way of carrying the Gospel to all the non- Christian
world. Only one thing will meet the situation, and
that is a prompt, comprehensive, and thorough campaign
to make Christ known to all the students and the educated
classes as well as to the other classes in the non-Christian
nations, together with a great strengthening of the
educational missionary? astablishment of the Church.
32 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
VI. THE URGENCY IN VIEW OF THE GROWING SPIRIT
OF NATIONALISM
Since the war between Japan and Russia there has
been, in all parts of the non-Christian world, a growing
spirit of nationalism and, associated with it, a spirit of
racial pride and antagonism. There is a widespread
movement among the nations and peoples of Asia,
Africa, and Oceania toward independence of European
and American control and influence. For a long time
Japan has furnished the most inspiring and pov/erful
example of free and triumphant nationality. The
extension of the protectorate of Japan over Korea,
involving the loss of independence, while humbling
the Korean people, has at the same time stimulated
within them an intense and united spirit of nationahsm.
In China we find a most marked example of grov/ing
consciousness of nationality and of a desire to acquire
independence and power. An equally wonderful illus-
tration is afforded by Turkey. India and Ceylon also
are throbbing with the consciousness of a new life and
are deeply stirred by new national aspirations. This
is especially true of the educated classes, and the influence
of their agitation, as manifested in the Swadeshi and
other movements, is gradually being felt among other
classes. Persia, Siam, Java, the Philippines, Egypt,
and the native section of South Africa, furnish other
illustrations of the same spirit.
This national movement in almost every place is the
expression of the growing self-consciousness of the
peoples. They are proud of their past ; they believe they
have resources and ability to make their own contribu-
tion to the hfe of the world. They wish to preserve their
individuality and independence, and to develop and be
true to their national and racial characteristics. More-
over, the Orient is finding itself. These different races
are coming to recognise that the}' have much in common.
They are both consciously and unconsciously being
drawn together.
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 33
This national and racial spirit cannot and should not be
crushed or checked. It is a matter of profound concern to
the Christian Church. It will have much power to hinder
or to facilitate the spread of Christ's Kingdom. Christ
never by teaching or example resisted or withstood the
spirit of true nationalism. Wherever His principles,
including those pertaining to the supreme claims of His
Kingdom on earth, have had largest right of way, they have
served to strengthen national spirit and not to weaken it.
And yet there is grave and imminent danger that the
teaching and attitude of the Church may be misunder-
stood among the non-Christian nations, and thus that the
missionary propaganda may be greatly hindered. Pro-
fessor Kato of the Imperial University of Tokio has raised
the cry that Christianity is universal in its aim and
therefore antagonistic to the intense national spirit of
Japan, which many Japanese are taught to regard as divine
both in origin and in world-wide mission.
Some of the leading Chinese reformers who have been
imperfectly mstructed as to what true Christianity is have
apparently been dominated by a similar misconception.
The awakening of a national spirit in China tends to close
minds and hearts against everything connected wdth the
foreign teacher. Chinese officials apparently cannot free
their minds from the conviction that the missionary
movement is after all only another form of political
activity. They have had experience in the past with
certain forms of Christianity which abundantly explains
the strength of their conviction. It is not strange,
therefore, that it is openly announced in Chinese news-
papers that the programme of the new China must be to
recover China's sovereign rights and to extinguish the
Church. Without doubt the officials are indirectly doing
much to prevent the people from accepting Christianity.
China fears any teaching or movement which centres
abroad. Thus the Mohammedan rebellion, with its
centres in Turkey and Arabia, made her fear Islam.
Her sentiment is not more against Christianity than
against railways and mines worked or superintended by
COM. I. — 3
-'^£ y
34 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
foreigners. In fact, she is more keen to redeem her rail-
ways and mines than to expel Christians. It is not
improbable that the Government when it becomes more
strongly organised wiU draw up regulations to be observed
by the missionary movement . This might not be without its
,• advantages, in that Christianity could then be propagated
1 apart from aids of western governments and thus would
not appear so much to be a foreign religion. The spirit
of restiveness under dominant foreign influence manifests
itself not only in the political and commercial relations
of China, but also inside the Chinese Christian Church
itself. There is indeed grave danger lest this Church turn
its back on the foreign missionary while still sorely needing
his instruction and help, to prepare it more fully for true
independence.
In India also a false patriotism is prejudicing many of
the people against Christ. The Swadeshi movement,
notably in Bengal, is particularly dangerous in the villages
because of its tendency to stir up hatred of Christ and
of the Christians. This movement has employed
lecturers to go over the country, especially to the
places of pilgrimage, to create hostility toward Chris-
tianity. Their literature exerts a similar influence.
It opposes the Christian religion as a foreign religion. ;
In the Indian Church, as weU as in the Churches of
China and Japan, there is also strong feeling in many
places against what they regard to be the too dominating
influence of the foreign missionary. At the same time
it should be noted that the new national movement
in India and Ceylon, while in its first effect it is strongly
anti-Christian and anti-foreign and a hindrance to the
progress of the Gospel, wiU in time tend to abolish caste,
hasten other reforms, and prepare India for a more
rapid and thorough spread of Christianity. Already it
is developing greater strength of character, greater power
of initiative and of propaganda, stronger thirst for educa-
tion, a new desire for social and religious reform, and
strong indignation at the appalling abuses of Hinduism.
It recognises the necessity of removing all divisive influ-
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 35
ences and of enlisting all unifying and uplifting forces.
This wiU inevitably lead to a larger recognition of the
unique mission and power of Christianity. This move-
ment has also affected the lower and middle classes — the
great bulk of the population — sufficiently to influence
them to consider the claims of Christianity, something
which many of them hitherto have never cared to do.
The development and spread of the spirit of national
and racial patriotism constitutes a most inspiring summons
to carry the Gospel of Christ to all these peoples. Pure
Christianity should be brought to bear at once in order to
help to educate, purify, unify, guide, and strengthen the
national spirit. Who can measure the possibilities for
the Christian Church of identifying itself freely and
largely with all genuine and noble national aspirations ?
Christianity must show that it has a message of salvation
not merely for isolated individuals but for the nation as a
whole ; that it has greater ethical power than the non-
Christian religions and yet is not antagonistic to any
truth that these systems contain ; that it can adapt itself
to the people whom it seeks to save, and that it does not
deem it essential, even desirable, that the ordered life of
the Christian community in Asia and Africa should foUow
in every respect the lines of European and American
(Christianity ; that the so-called Christian nations really
believe in Christianity, and' that, although they are
still far from attaining to the Christian position, they
are yet in the lead in character among the nations, and
that their shortcomings and sins are not due to Christ,
but to the lack of Christ ; that Christianity is uni-
versally indigenous and will bear its richest and most
abundant fruits in any soil where it is not choked by the
weeds of error or falsehood.
VII. THE URGENCY IN VIEW OF THE RISING SPIRITUAL
TIDE IN MANY MISSION FIELDS
The movement toward Christ in many parts of the non-
Christian world is increasing in volume and in momentum.
36 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
There have been times in the history of missions when the
spiritual tide was as high, if not higher, on certain fields
than at present ; but there has never been a time when on
so many fields there was unmistakably such a rising tide.
In Japan, notwithstanding many difficulties and dis-
couragements, the past ten years have without doubt
been the most fruitful in spiritual results ever known in
that field. In the recent past nearly every Christian
communion at work in Japan has had encouraging results
in conversions. In some parts of the country there have
been revivals. The concentration campaigns waged
largely by the Japanese workers themselves have been
good examples of successful united evangelistic work.
The revival among the prisoners in Hokkaido v/as
truly notable. The evangelistic efforts put forth by
the Young Men's Christian Association among the nearly
one million Japanese soldiers during the recent war, and
the circulation among them of the New Testament and
other Christian hterature by the Bible Societies and other
agencies, were followed by far-reaching results. The
international deputations sent out to all the student
centres of Japan in connection with the Conference of the
World's Student Christian Federation waged possibly the
most effective evangelistic campaign ever carried on
among the students of an entire country.
Korea presents the most striking example of a whole
nation being moved by the Holy Spirit. Revivals are in
progress in different parts of the country. There are now
not less than 200,000 Christians, including catechumens,
and their number is increasing at the rate of over thirty
per cent, a j'ear. People of all classes are being brought
under the sway of Jesus Christ. Dr. Yun, possibly the
leading Korean Christian, expresses his conviction that
the next ten years will tell more for the evangelisation of
Korea than fifty years thereafter. If the home Church
wiD, during the next few years, a.dequately sustain the
present evangelistic campaign in Korea, that country will
probably be the first non-Christian nation evangelised
in the history of modern missions. The thorough evac^
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 37
gelisation of one nation actually accomplished would
serve as an impressive object-lesson to the whole Church,
and would inspire Christians to press on in other nations.
In many parts of the Chinese Empire there have been in
the last few years genuine spiritual awakenings. Atten-
tion need only be called to the revival in Manchuria, to the
transformations wrought by God among the Miao and
hill tribes in the far west of China, the revival at Hinghwa
in the Fukien Province, and the power manifested in the
meetings conducted by Mr. Goforth in several provinces.
Reports have come from all sections of the country
telling of the conversion of large numbers of the illiterate
masses. Encouraging as is this movement among the
masses of China, when the number of persons involved
is considered, the evangelistic fruitage among the educated
classes has been even more remarkable. Where the
Gospel hcLS been presented to the modern students of
China, both from Christian schools and also from Govern-
ment schools, during the past three or four years, it has
as a rule met with a favourable response. The evangelistic
meetings, Bible classes, and personal work carried on
among the Chinese students in Tokio constitute by them-
selves one of the most fruitful efforts on behalf of the
educated classes ever put forth in any field. The ethical
and social changes and transformations wrought in
connection with this spiritual movement in so many
parts of China leave no doubt as to its being a work of
God. Missionaries writing from all sections of this field
tell of the large number of applicants for baptism, number-
ing in some cases into the thousands, and express their
solicitude lest the Church of Christ fail to realise the
significance of this movement and to put forth its strength.
They believe that the revival movement now passing over
China may become widespread if the Christians of our
day will but see and seize the opportunity.
\Vliile there have not been in Siam and Laos and in the
Malay Peninsula extensive revivals as in China, Korea,
and Japan, the reports nevertheless show the unmistakable
work of the Spirit of God in the definite conversion of meo
38 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed. It is plain that
there might be large harvests gathered, even in these
difficult fields, were the staff of workers augmented. Two
of the leading missionaries of Laos say that they would
not be at all surprised to see its people become nominally
Christian within their day. , ""
Notwithstanding the unrest and disturbances in India,
the past few years have witnessed real progress in the
Christian propaganda. There have been large in-
gatherings into the Kingdom of Christ. The awakening
in the Welsh Mission in the Khasi Hills, leading to the
conversion of thousands, and the quickening of the native
Church, exerted an influence far beyond that region. It did
much to strengthen the faith of the workers elsevv'here,
and to fire them with the zeal of evangelism. The so-called
" mass movements " in different parts of India are result-
ing each year in turning a multitude of the outcastes
and of the members of the lower castes towards the
Christian fold. The readiness of these depressed masses to
receive the Gospel and to accept baptism is indeed impres-
sive. During a single year recently about three thousand
souls in the south-east portion of the Nizam's dominions
placed themselves under Christian instruction. Similar
movements are reported in the United Provinces, in the
Punjab, and in Western India. In one section of North
India, at the present rate of in-gathering, it will be only a
few years until practically all of the " sweepers " will have
come in ; and there are at present signs of a break among
a still larger class — the leather-workers. Several lower
castes are very accessible. Some missions are baptizing
as rapidly as they can thoroughly evangelise and teach.
Others testify that they could double or quadruple the
number of baptisms were they able to double their force
of workers. Missionaries insist that if the Church fails
to prosecute a very aggressive movement to evangelise
these prepared multitudes and to win them for Christ,
they will be drawn elsewhere, and come under influences
v/hich will greatly increase the difficulty involved in reach-
ing them. They believe that tliis movement amongst the
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 39
depressed classes of India constitutes a great opportunity
for evangelisation, and that to fail to take advantage of it
would be to neglect a crisis in the life of the heathen world
which may be used for the extension of pure Christianity.
The missionaries in touch with these movements in
India are alive to the perils involved, and they may be
depended upon to safeguard the Church from serious
mistakes. The opportunity is certainly a great one, and
is urgent. Dr. Murray Mitchell, in writing his book, The
Great Religions of India, must have had in mind these
modern mass movements when he said : " Ere long we ex-
pect to witness such a rush — or what we generally call mass
movements — in India." He was writing regarding certain
movements in the Roman Empire in the fourth century.
He then went on to speak of the problem of India moving
in masses. This modern mass movement presents an
appeal to the Church to make a prompt and large advance.
It will not be without its powerful influence on the higher
castes and classes of India. May it not be that the
Bishop of Madras is right in his contention that the future
of India lies more with the pariah than with the Brahman ?
Be this as it may, the history of the Church shows that any
great spiritual movement at the bottom of society sooner
or later profoundly affects the upper strata.
It should be noted that the movement toward Christ
among the educated classes of India also affords grounds
for thanksgiving and hopefulness. A survey of the
Indian Christian community will show that the number
of converts from the higher castes, while not large, is
increasing. A prominent worker among students in India
has pointed out recently that there have been more
conversions among the educated classes of India during
the last ten years than in any previous decade in the history
of Indian missions. Christianity is coming more and
more into its own in Hindustan, and the best thought
of India is not toward Hinduism but toward Christ.
As the Bishop of Lahore said not long ago, " There has
been a gradual conversion of the attitude of the people
toward Christianity." The point which so many mis-
40 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
sionaries have brought out should not be overlooked or
lose its force, namely, that scattered all over India are
numbers, which in the aggregate must be very large,
of secret disciples of Jesus Christ. Much that has been
said about India proper could be said with reference to
Burma and Assam, as well as Ceylon. Both among the
educated classes in these regions and among the mass of
the people there have been in recent years not a few
conversions and other evidences of the work of the Holy
Spirit.
In all parts of the Turkish Empire and in Persia since
the recent revolutions, there is a widespread spirit of
enquiry, as shown by the unprecedented demand for the
Scriptures. It seems to be the general impression among
the missionaries of these two countries that the time has
come when we may expect to see an increasing number
of conversions to Christianity among the Moslem popula-
tion.
It is plain from what the missionaries write that by
far the greatest progress of Christianity in Africa has
been achieved within the past decade. Wherever there
have been workers of holy life and strong faith to put
in the sickle, they have gathered sheaves. This has been
conspicuously exemplified in Uganda, in Livingstonia,
and in parts of the Congo basin, but the mention of these
fields must not exclude from view the fact that in other
districts also the mighty working of the Spirit of God has
been witnessed. While the results of work on behalf of
I»Ioslems in the form of announced conversions have not
been large, efforts of this kind have by no means been in
vain. There are among Moslems many secret believers
in Christ. A conference of Moslem converts was held
recently in Zeitoun, Egypt. In Madagascar the repressing
policy of the Government has forbidden aggressive
operations, closed the large majority of schools, and im-
posed severe restrictions on worship ; but, as in the earlier
history of the Church in that island, the time of persecution
s proving a time of remarkable ingathering.
From almost every considerable ^roup of islands
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 41
throughout Oceania, and particularly from the great
islands in the Indies, such as Sumatra, Java, Borneo,
Celebes, and New Guinea, there have come letters showing
that there has been no period like the last one or two
decades in triumphant power of the Gospel. As we look
out over the non-Christian world, it is true that we may
see some apparently barren fields and deserts, and observe
certain sections and classes of the population in some
countries which are not responding largely to the Gospel
appeal ; but taking the non-Christian world as a whole,
the present is without doubt a time of rising spiritual tide.
It is always wise to take advantage of a rising tide. In
the annals of Christianity there has been no time like the
present. Surely it is a summons to the Church to make a
prompt campaign, adequate to meet the opportunity.
VIII. THE URGENCY IN ORDER TO ENTER INTO
HERITAGE OF THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION
Where there have been great causes at work we may
expect in due time to witness great results. There is
no body of workers in connection with any human enter-
])rise who have devoted themselves to their task with
greater intensity, thoroughness, and self-denial than those
have shown who have been engaged during the past one
hundred ^^ears in seeking to carry the Gospel to the
non-Cluristian world. While their numbers have been
disproportionately small their ability has been of a
high order, and their wisdom and zeal have been remark-
able. This comment applies to a large section both
of the foreign and native workers. There is one fact
to which far too little importance is attached. Even
those missionary efforts which have seemed to yield
comparatively little valuable fruit have not been in
vain. While thus far there may not have been many
positive results to show, the negative effects have been
none the less helpful in spreading the Gospel. They
have helped to weaken the strength of heathendom.
Even in the most difficult fields, such as sections
42 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
of the Mohammedan and Hindu communities of India,
the work of the ]3ast on e_ hundred years has been that
of disintegration, and to-day we see the beginning of the
breaking up of these gigantic systems. Were the Christian
Church now to advance in the spirit and power of Christ,
results could be achieved far surpassing anything
accomplished in the past.
As Dr. Fulton pointed out at the Qentenary Missionary
Conference in China, the work of foreign missions has
not been unlike that of the work of reclamation carried
/on in recent years by the United States Government
i:f I for the purpose of making ~pf odiictive great areas of
\ desert land. The problem has been that of assuring
to those lands streams of water that will bring fertility
and fruitfulness — water in steady or regular streams,
^ and not in uncertain quantities or at unknown times.
So the u^ork of the missionary enterprise hitherto
has been largely that of tunnelling mountains and con-
structing reservoirs and canals so as to be able to convey
the water in adequate measure and continuity to the
great multitudes in the waste and desert places of the non-
Christian world. But this all-important preparatory work
has now reached a stage where the life-giving streams
should be released in far greater measure.
While the missionaries on every field have more or
less tried to secure immediate results, their principal
tasks, whether they recognise it or not,^^have been con-
h cerned with the preliminaries of a really adequate
advance. Their work has been largely that of scouting
and exploring, of organising and training the arms of
the service, of forging the weapons, of evolving the
tactics and strategy of the campaign, of sapping and
mining, of experimenting. This necessarily prolonged
labour is now in many fields complete, and
as Mr. W. H. Findlay, formerly of South India, has
! pointed out, " The effective advance, with victories
eclipsing almost aU those of the past, may be confidently
expected, jf the Church sends the arrny." For these pre-
liminary stages the forces thus far employed have not
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 43
been altogether inadequate. But for the work now at
hand greater numerical strength is required.
(Three greajt laws of God, absolutely certain in their
working, Tiave long, been in operation throughout the
mission fields ; and in the light of Church history we
have reason to expect that they have made possible
enormous results. The one thing necessary is for the
Christian Church at the present time to enter into the
heritage so fully prepared by the working of these un-
changing laws. One of these is the law^ of sowing and
reaping. It has ^en the unvarying rule of the Kingdom
that where there has been proper sowing, in due time
an abundant harvest might be reajDed. Seed-sowing
has been going on in nearly all of the mission fields for
a generation, and in many of them for two or three
generations. The seed sown has been good seed — seed
with most highly-multiplying vitality. The sowers
have been wise, assiduous, and faithful. The processes
of watering and nurturing have been, generally speaking,
efficient. The Lord of the Harvest has never been
found wanting in bringing forth increase. The great
thing needed is capable reapers, abounding in faith and
sufficient in nurriber. Granted such we shall witness
large harvests. Even in the most difficult fields of the
■Mohammedan and Hindu world we shall see the coming
out into open confession of a great company of the no\v
secj;et disciples of our Lord.
"^Another one of God's laws, equally certain in its opera-
tion, is the law of intercession. On the authority of
Christ, which is fully supported in the experience of His
followers, intercession^ has limitless^_achieving pov^^er.
There is possibly no section of the Christian Church
which has devoted itself more fully to real prayer than
the leaders of the Christian propaganda in the non-
Christian world, and the vital Christians on the home
field have probably remembered no other cause in their
prayers with greater faithfulness than the movement
for the extension of the limits of Christ's Kingdom among
the peoples who have not known Him. But of what
J?
44 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
use is this great and growing volume of intercession
unless the Church goes forth in force to enter into its
rightful possessions^ Wherever it has done so with
"con fi dent apostolic spirit it has invariably been rewarded
, with abounding fruitage.
^^The law of sacrifice, like the other two laws which have
'"been named, brmgs into operation a force adequate to the
achieving of vast spiritual results. Christ enunciated
the deepest principle underlying the spread of His King-
dom in this language : " Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die
it bringeth forth much fruit." On this ground may we
not expect a wonderful fruitage in our day ? We need
only recall the large number of missionaries and native
leaders who, even within the past two decades, have laid
down their lives for the sake of the Kingdom. And
how true it is that the whole life and career of the mis-
sionary is one of self-denial, in which the members of his
family also participate. We should not forget, moreover,
the large volume of sacrifice for the missionary cause on
^ the part of many Christians on the home field. But
the sacrifices of Christ's followers at home and abroad
will have been comparatively fruitless unless the members
^ of the Church of our day, in full recognition of the wonder-
ful possibilities of the working of this law, both seek to
harvest the fruits of the sacrifices already made and also
( associate themselves more fully with Christ in the life
of self-sacrifice.
IX. THE URGENCY IN ORDER TO ENSURE__THE .XI£E /
AND EFFICIENCY OF THE HOME CHURCH
Unless the home Church greatly enlarges its missionary
operations, that they may be commensurate with the
opportunities and with the dernands made upon the
forces of Christendom, there Ts danger lest its repre-
sentatives at the front break down in health, and that
their work be of an inferior type. The whole character
of the work and of the workers may seriously deteriorate
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 45
on account of the well-nigh irresistible demand that work
be done and lines be extended without adequate pre-
paration or sufficient provision for their equipment.
The present undermanned condition of the missionary /?/'-:>
enterprise' is driving missionaries at too high a speed,
preventing that thoroughness of intellectual and spiritual
preparation, and that recuperation of physical vigour,
which are so essential if the work is to be thoroughly
done. Moreover, not to put forth strength in view of
the present opportunity means that because of unim-
proved opportunities the difficulties of the Church in
days to come will be greatly increased.
For the Church not to rise to the present situation and -^^^
meet the present opportunity will result in hardening
the minds "and hearts of its members and making them -iO
unresponsive to God. If the situation now confronting
fhe Church throughout the world does not move to
larger consecration and prompt and aggressive effort, it
is difficult to imagine what more God could do to move -"'
the Church, unless it be to bring upon it some great
cSIamrty. To know the awful need of the non-Christian
world, to have available a Gospel abundantly sufficient to
meet that need, to be fuffjTable to carry that Gospel to
those who are in need of it, and not to do so, will inevitably
promote unreality and hypocrisy throughout the home
Church^ rt~is" an inexorable law of Christianity that no
CKristian can keep spiritual Jife and blessing to himself,
but must communicate to those in need. Not to do so
damages the character of the Christian himself, promotes
like hypocrisy among other Christians who are influenced
by Him, leads unbelievers around him to lose confidence in /^
the reality of Christianity, and leaves in outer darkness
multitudes of souls in non-Christian lands, who, were it
not for such sham profession, would be ushered into the
marvellous light and liberty of Christ. Without doubt
the present halting and seeming inaction of the Churcli.j?-
is bringing discredit on the name and power of Christianity. '^
The 'apologetic "value and influence of a widespread,
thorough, and triumphant propagation of the Gospel
46 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
should also be emphasised. In Christian lands many
* have lost faith in Christianity as a power to uplift mankind. ""
"If ~the foreign missionary propaganda furnishes from the
aiVficult fields of the non-Christian world evidence
I showing the ability of the Christian religion to transform
I men individually, to elevate communities socially and
t6"win whole nations, the effect on the life and influence
of the home Church will be very great indeed. On the
other hand, shoald the missionary enterprise fail, to meet
successfully the present world-need and opportunity, the
faith of many in the mission and power of Christianity
may be shaken to the foundation.
The only thing which will save the Church from the
,, imminent perils of growing luxury and materialism, is
the putting forth of allits powers on behalf of the world
without Christ. Times of material prosperity have ever
been the times of greatest danger to Christianity. The
Church needs a supreme world-purpose — a gigantic task^
something which will call out all its energies, something } . p^
too great for man to accomplish, and, therefore, something y^ ,
which will throw the Church back upon God Himself. />^<^'
This desideratum is afforded by the present world-wide ''''''•'/•(/
missionary opportunity and responsibility. To lay hold
in particular of the lives of the strongest young men and
young women, the Church must offer them some such
masterful mission as this. May it not be that God designs
that the baffling problems which confront Christianity in
the non-Christian world shall constitute the battle-
ground for disciplining the faith and strengthening the
character' of His followers ? To preserve the pure faith ^^-r- ■
of Christianity, a world-wide plan and conquest are j-^'- ■
necessary. This lesson is convincingly taught in the
pages of Church history. The concern of Christians
to-day should not be lest non-Christian peoples refuse to
receive Christ, but lest they in failing to communicate Him
will themselves lose Him. i-
A programme literally world-wide in its scope is indis;
pensable to enrich and complete the Church. Jesus
Christ must have all the races and all the nations through
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 47
which to make known fully His excellences and to com-
municate adequately His power. Informed, transformed,
enlightened, enlivened by the reception of Christ and the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Asia, Africa, and Oceania
win surely exercise a^profound influence upon the western
Church and ^ help greatly to enlarge and enrich its concep-
tions of Christ and His Kingdom. The movement to carry
forward an enterprise to make Christ known to all mankind
will inevitably widen the horizon and sympathies of the ,
Church. It will be impossible to plan and wage a world-
wide campaign without being enlarged by the very purpose '
itself. The life of the Church depends upon its being
missionary. Revivals of missionary devotion and of
spiritual life have ever gone hand-in-hand. The mission-
ary activites of the Church are the circulation of its blood, /;
which would lose its vital power if "Trnever flowed to the
extremities. The missionary problem of the Church
to-day is not primarily a financial problem, but it ishow
to ensm"e a vitality egual to the imperial expansion of the ^
missionary programme. The only hope of this is, for
Christians to avail themselves of the more abundant life
through Christ bestowed in the pathway of obedience to
Him. Moreover, to have God manifest mightily His
power in the home Church so that it may be able to
grapple successfully with the problems at its own doors,
it is essential that the Church give itself in a larger way to
the carrying out of His missionary purposes. Is it not true
that when this main purpose is forgotten or subordinated,
a paralysis comes upon the Church, incapacitating it for
other efforts ? World evangelisation is essential to a- ^
Christian conquest aTTiome. The only faith which will
conquer Europe and America is the faith heroic and
vigorous enough to subdue' the peoples of tKe non-
CTiristTan world.
Christ_emphasised that the mightiest apologetic with
whicFlo convince the non-Christian world^ of His divine
character and claims would be the oneness of His disciples.
Experience has already shown tharEy far the most hope-
ful way of hastening the realisation of true and triumphant
t*\-f'^
48 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Christian unity is through the enterprise of carrying
the Gospel to the non-Christian world. Who can measure
the federative and unifying influence of foreign missions ?
No problem less colossal and less bafflingly difficult will
so reveal to the Christians of to-day the sinfulness of their
divisions, and so convince them of the necessity of con-
^ certed effort, as actually to draw them together in answer
to the intercession of their common and Divine Lord.
The cumulative and crowning consideration calling the
Church to undertake promptly and to carry forward
earnestly and thoroughly a campaign to take the Gospel
to all the non-Christian world is seen in the coincidence
of the series of convincing facts and providences which
have been summarised in this survey. Never before have
such facts and mjovements synchronised. The non-
Christian world now accessible, open and responsive ; .
the non-Christian religions losing their age-long hold on
certain classes on the one hand and yet on the other hand
/) stirred to new activity, enterprise, and antagonism ; the
alarming and rapid spread of un-Christian and anti-
Christian influences from so-called Christian lands ;
peoples waking from long sleep and whole nations in a
plastic condition, but the character and spirit of their
civilisation soon to become fixed ; the threatening menace
of the great development and enlarging plans of systems
u , of secular education ; a growing spirit of nationalism and
of racial pride and antagonism, vv^ith all this may mean
5 'for or against the spread of Christ's Kingdom ; a spiritual
tide of missionary success rising and in many places at'its
/] flood ; the possibility of reaping enormous fruitage as a
result of the long working of God's certain laws. Surely
all these facts and factors, together with the perils and
possibilities of the home Church as determined by its
attitude at such a time and in face of such an opportunity,
constitute a conjunction brought about by the hand of
the Living God, and should be regarded by the Christian
Church as an irresistible mandate.
Well may the leaders and members of the Church
OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY 49
reflect on the awful_seriousness of the simple fact that
opportunities pass. If "must use them or lose them.
It cannot play with them or procrastinate to debate
whether or not to improve them. Doors open and
doors shut again. Time presses. " The living, the
livings ie shall praise Thee." It is the day of God's
power. Shall His people be willing ?
COM. 1.-
PART 11
SURVEY OF THE N0N=CHR1STIAN
WORLD
JAPAN
Rarely if ever before in her history has the Church
attempted to Christianise a people so advanced at once
in intellectual, moral, and material culture as the Japanese.
A people in whom the spirit of progress rests upon so
deep a substratum of conservatism cannot be moved
from their old beliefs in a day. The expectations enter-
tained by some observers twenty years ago that they
would be swept into Christianity en masse, have been
replaced by conservative views. The recent celebration
of the semi-centennial of the modern introduction of
Christianity into Japan has thrown into relief the broad
scope of the evangelism already accomplished and the
substantial character of the results attained.
I. THE FIELD AND THE PEOPLE
Japan's geographical position destines her to play an
important role in the evangelisation of the Far East.
Although covering only 161,000 square miles, she forms an
island rampart circling the coast of Asia from Siberia to
Southern China. Her indented coasts and the sea-loving
disposition of her people, her supplies of coal and her
skilled labour, combined with the intellectual energy of her
people, guarantee that her traders^teachers, and_di£lomats
50
JAPAN 51
yK> ■ P^ »-^^ j.^ ^y^;.^(^y^^
will penetrate to every city between Kamchatka and
Bombay. Japan is peculiarly fitted to become in mental
and moral, no less than in material civilisation, the
mediator between the Occident and the Orient. Whether
we will or not, the words still ring in our ears, "Japan
leading the Orient — but whither ? "
The Japanese race is prolific. Increasing at the rate
of one per cent, a year, the people now number 52,000,000,
besides 3,250,000 Formosans. The climate is in general
salubrious, though in experience it is found to be
trying to westerners. Conditions of living and travel
offer no peculiar hardships. The entire Empire is now
accessible to the Christian worker by means of 5300
miles of railway and numerous steamship lines. All
restrictions as to residence have been removed since
1899. The population is comparatively congested ii
the centre and south-west, but there are no very sparsely
settled regions except the northern island, Hokkaido.
The emigration of many thousands of Japanese each
year to the mainland of Asia is constantly widening
the responsibility of the missions at work in Japan.
The Japanese language is very complex and difficult,
but when once mastered, it becomes a means of com-
munication with people of all classes throughout the
Empire. By resorting to the Chinese ideographs, all
the shades of thought involved in the presentation of
religious truth can be fairly well conveyed. The absence
of sharp caste distinctions and the relatively high social
standing of the missionary secure him access to the upper
as well as the lower classes of society.
II. CHARACTERISTICS AND CONDITIONS FAVOURABLE /''c-^h**^^!
AND UNFAVOURABLE TO EVANGELISATION
The character of the people is the chief ground of hope
for the Christian worker. But like all peoples, the Japanese
have the defects of their qualities. They are singularly
open-minded and tolerant, but not free from changeable-
pess and lukewarm ej;lecticism. They possess a capacity
52 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
for mass movements, particularly under superior leader-
ship, but often lack the courage to stand alone against
the tyranny of family and social opposition. They have
a talent for minute organisation and prevision in military
and political affairs, but are unsystematic in private life.
They glorify patriotism, but tend to interpret it in a
nationalistic sense antagonistic to Christianity. The
spirit of h_erQ-worship powerfully lifts their aspirations,
but, carried to the point of apotheosis, it withdraws atten-
tion from the true idea of God. There has been until
\ recently, even among Christians, a tendency to value
Christianity for its utility to the State, but a failure to
prize it for its. absolute spiritual truth. On the side of
personal morality, laxitxjn relations between the sexes is
one of the chief secrets of moral failure among both Chris-
tians and non-Christians, especially in the country dis-
tricts, although Japanese wives are singularly free from this
failing. Yet when all allowances have been made, there
are left such vigour and winsomeness, such masculine
valour and feminine sensitiveness as have already given
the world fresh and beautiful types of Christian character.
The age-long dominance of Buddhism has probably
been more of a hindrance than a help to Christianisation.
It has bred superstition, fatalism, and a low conception
^ of sin and of salvation by faith ; still, it has taught the
i law of suffering for sin, the need of spiritual enlightenment,
and the seriousness, the mystery, and the eternity of
existence. Fortunately, perhaps, it was the northern
more spiritual, instead of the southern semi-atheistic
Buddhism that came to Japan. Confucianism has proved
in many respects to be a schoolmaster leading toward
Christ, and a corrective for the defects of Buddhism. It
has inculcated a high moral code, emphasised self-mastery,
and discouraged superstition. On the other hand, it has en-
couraged agnosticism and self-satisfied rigidity. Shintoism
has contributed an appreciation of sin as an offence against
the gods, and the beauty of spontaneity and simplicity ;
but it has too often tended toward unbridled natural-
ism, polytheism, and one-sided nationalism. Bushido,
JAPAN 53
with all its defects — recalling the weaknesses of Spanish
knighthood as depicted by Cervantes — has^nurtured many
noble qualities. But its suspiciousness and combativeness
need to be expelled by Christ's apirit of Love and service.
Other favourable factors are : the constitutional
guarantee oT religious liberty ; the prevalence of the
English tongue, with its Christianised literature ; the^^^-
alliance with Christian Britain ; the recruiting of the
first generation of Christian leaders from among the
Samurai, with their culture and their capacity for leader-
ship ; the intense national and individual ambition for ^.
progress ; and the recogiiised insufficiency of material
prosperity, leading to the revival of the old faiths and the
patronage of the Hotoku teachings of Ninomiya Sontoku,
^ by- the Goverriment : many thoughtful men, however, are
convinced that all of these together are inadequate to
meet the nation's need.
Other unfavourable factors are : the inherited suspicion
of Christianity, ever since the proscription of the Portu-
guese missionaries ; the contempt for religionists, bred
by the corrupt lives of the Buddhist priests ; the rein-
forcem.ent of Confucian scepticism by the anti-Christian
thought of the West ; the grovv'ing circulation of baneful . >
Russian and French literature ; the heavy dependence
hitherto upon foreign money for evangelisation, so that
ardent patriots Kave spiirned Christianity as an alien pro-
paganda ; misunderstandings arising from ignorance of
the Japanese language and customs on the part of some
missionaries, or from Japanese sensitiveness ; the_extreme
socialistic views of -a fevY,men.-who are generally regarded
as Christians ; the unexpectedly strong attachment of
Japanese Christians to sectarian distinctions ; the large
number of derelict professing Christians ; the godless
lives of many Europeans in Oriental ports, and the
apparent impotence of Christianity in_ the West to _^
cure such evils as-gross impurity , 'pauperism, "domestic '
discord, industrial strife, international bitterness^ and
the race prejudice exhibited in connection with the
anti-Oriental agitation ; the rationalistic attack upon the
54 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
person of Christ; the opposition of revived Buddhism
and Shintoism ; the struggle for wealth since the Russo-
Japanese war, crowding out the study of Christian
truth ; and, finally, the self-confidence begotten by
victory in war, making religion seem unnecessary.
All these forces and counter-forces are fighting for
mastery among the Japanese people to-day. The wonder
is, not that the Kingdom of Christ advances no faster,
but that it has advanced so remarkably as it has.
III. HOW FAR EVANGELISATION HAS TROGRESSED
Beginning at the two open ports in 1859, Protestant mis-
sionaries have steadily progressed in the occapation of the
country, until to-day every one of the forty-eight pi-ovinces
has been entered. The restrictions upon living outside the
treaty ports at first necessitated the^concentration'of the
missionary force in the larger cities. 'Even yet we fmd
that 60 per ' cent, of the missionary body reside in
eight cities, namely, Tokio, 279 ; Kobe, 72 ; Yokohama,
67 ; Osaka, 62 ; Kioto, 40 ; Sendai, 37 ; Nagasaki, 35 ;
and Nagoya, 33. But it is important to remember that
fully one-half of all those in these larger cities are engaged
in educational or literary work, or in the general adminis-
tration of mission work, or in the study of the language.
Many of the remainder are chiefly engaged in itinerant
evangelism in the surrounding towns.
The tendency has been for the number of stations to
increase more rapidly than the number of missionaries.
Thus, in 1900, the 757 missionaries (including wives)
were located in only 63 stations, whereas, in 1908, the
1034 rnissionaries were in 97 stations. This tendency has
apparently reached the limit, unless the missionary force
be increased, or more economically utilised by co-operation
and division of labour.
The work of the past fifty years has included all 'phases,
although the industrial has been insignificant and the
medical has steadily decreased. Emphasis has from
the first been placed upon education, preaching, and
JAPAN 55
women's work. Children's work has been extensively
carried on in Sunday Schools and kindergartens with
excellent results. The exceptional intelligence of the
Japanese Christian workers is largely accounted for by
the early attention paid to education. This attention
was due T)0th to the foresight of the missionaries and
to the thirst for instruction on the part of the intelligent
middle class of Samurai descent. After the restoration, ^
of 1868 the Samurai became officials, teachers, professional ^'^^
men^ and students. The result has been that Christian-
ity has made most rapid progress among men of those
occupations. Conversely, the farmers, merchants, ^
labourers, and the aristocracy have been comparattively
inaccessible and therefore neglected. While this pro-
ce3ufe has given the Japanese Church a high inteUectual
standing, it has kept it financially poor. Yet, with the
increasing commercialisation of the nation, the Christians,, /j/y
are winning their share of wealth and are giving it gener- y^^^t^
ously for the faith. This is evidenced by the growth f^cnr
in the proportion of self-supporting churches from 13 /^^^^
out of 93 in 1882 (14 per cent.), to 95 out of 443 in 1900 9/-i>^^
(21 per cent.), and to 169 out of 554 in 1908 (32 per cent.).
The growth in Church membership, including all
bodies except the Roman and Greek Catholics (which
claim 62,000 and 30,000 members respectively), has been
as follows : — <
1879
2,701
1882 .... 4,367 -
18S9 .... 31.875
1900 .... 42.451
1908 . . > . 73.422
This shows an extremely rapid growth between 18S2
and 1889, a very slow growth between 1889 and 1900, and
a normal growth during the subsequent eight years. These
figures correctly reflect the temper of the periods, which
may be called the advance, the reaction, and the recovery ;
they were characterised in turn by inflated enthusiasm, ,4/''
sceptical indifference, and balanced faith. . , , . ^
66 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The direct evangelisation of the country has been
powerfully aided by the excellent Christian schools and
kindergartens, and supported at every point by the
f j- widespread activity of the Bible Societies, ^ which since
1874 have circulated over 5,000,000 copies of the Bible
or its parts. It has also l5eeh effectively supplemented
by man}^ forms of applied Christianity, such as orphan-
V6 ages, Young Men's Christian Associations, hospitals,
studefrT'liostels, rescue and temperance work. The
- eminently pragmatic character of the Japanese has
^ made them quick to perceive the, value of Christ'anity
in these manifestations, and they have thus been more
or less influenced to seek for the power behind the forms.
There have been several striking demonstrations on
a large scale of the vigour of the Christian movement
in Japan, such as the nation-wide union evangelistic
campaign of 1900-01, the work in Manchuria, and in
the military hospitals during the Russo-Japanese war,
the " free cessation " anti-brothel movement, the relief
for the famine sufferers in the north-eastern provinces,
and the relief_,work for th^ Osaka fire sufferers. All of
these efforts have either directly or indirectly aided in
the evangelisation of the country.
IV. THE TASK REMAINING
The regions most neglected hitherto are, broadly
speaking, the whole littoral of the main island bordering
the Japan Sea, and large portions of the north-eastern
provinces. The results in proportion to the effort put
forth have seemed most meagre in the prefectures of
Niigata, Fukui, Toyama, Ishikawa, Tochigi, Shimane,
Saitama, Nara, and Oita.
The comparatively neglected classes of people are :
(i) Farmers, scattered in towns and hamlets, which
can only be reached and evangelised by wide and repeated
itineration. They constitute more than half the popu-
lation of the Empire. They are conservative, unedu-
cated, hard-working, and under the influence of the village
JAPAN 57
priest, but docile, kindly, and loyal. They are open
to the Christian message if it is tactfully presented,
and generally make faithful, self-sacrificing Christians.
(2) Factory employees, numbering 743,000 in 1907, an
increase of 250,000 since 1902. The still more numerous
classes of artisans and day-labourers are equally neglected.
(3) Railway employees, numbering 87,000, one of the most
accessible, progressive classes, already somewhat evangelised,
but not in a comprehensive way. (4) Shopkeepers and
merchants, numbering probably one-sixth of the popula-
tion, hard to get hold of, and as yet only slightly affected,
but yielding staunch Christians. From them must
come most of the money needed to make the Church
self-supporting. Bishop Evington declares : " Until we
make some real impression on the agricultural and
trading classes, the backbone of the nation has not
been reached, so far as evangelistic work is concerned."
(5) Army and navy men, numbering 250,000 and 50,000
respectively, in active service. The army officers are one
of the most anti-Christian elementsTn the nation, largely
because they suspect Christianity of being unpatriotic
and tainted with socialism. The real sentiment of many
high officials is distinctly anti-Christian. (6) The aris-
tocracy and men of wealth, few in number, intelligent,
but generally ignorant of genuine Christianity, and
difficult of approach. (7) Fishermen, numbering perhaps
1,000,000, unlettered, poor, and scattered in villages.
One weakness of the Christian, jnovement is the fact
that the majority of the members of the city churches are
not drawn from the permanent old residents, but from the
newcomers and transients,-. Although it would yield slower
returns, it might in the long run be wiser to lay heavier
siege to the older residents. It should be said, however,
that the newcomers are generally freer from social opposi-
tion, and consequently easier to approach ; like all
pioneers, they are apt to be enterprising, and hence, when
once won, make active workers.
The larger cities seem at first glance to be well occupied,
yet an examination of Tokio, Osaka, and Kioto shows
'■«
58 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
that fully one-half of all resident Christian workers are
engaged in institutional work. Even the student field,
which is so accessible, cannot be said to be adequately
occupied in any large city. Unfortunately the evan-
gelistic efficiency of many Christian schools is seriously
handicapped by the necessity of employing as certificated
teachers many who are non-Christians, in order to secure
Government recognition. And the factory, mercantile,
and labouring classes in the large centres can be only
barely touched by the present force and equipment.
V. FORCES AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR ADEQUATE
OCCUPATION OF THE FIELD
I. The Workers Needed. — By the evangelisation of Japan
is meant making the Gospel message readily accessible and
thoroughly intelligible to the mind and heart of every
man and woman in the Empire. It means not only that
the Church must present an opportunity for the repeated
hearing of Christian preaching, but also for direct contact
with Christlike men and Christian institutions. By
the adequate occupation of the -' field 'we shall under-
stand here that part of the programme'bf evangelisation
which falls within the next twenty-five years, and we
shall emphasise the part to be taken in it by the mis-
sionary body, although the part of the Japanese workers
and laymen will be of far greater consequence. A
spiritual enterprise like evangelisation manifestly can-
not be computed on the basis of population or the
number of workers. But both Japanese and missionary
leaders are almost unanimous in believing that the
missionary force should be increased. Bishop Honda
favours doubling it. No one advocates decreasing it.
A conservative consensus of opinion calls for an increase
of 25 per cent., and all are agreed that this increase should
jj^.take place within the next ten years. The increase desired
^ in the force of Japanese workers is practically unlimited,
provided they are of sufficiently high character. Upon
them will fall more and more the burden and heat of
JAPAN 59
the day. And if the equipment of Christian schools and
churches is adequately increased, as hereafter specified,
it is reasonable to expect that the ordained Japanese
force will be steadily, even rapidly augmented, as has
been the case during the past decade, which has been
characterised by an increase more than fourfold.
2. Principles Governing the Increase of Force and Eqviip-
nient. — Before entering upon the discussion of the equip-
ment needed and the distribution of the forces, it is
important to state four cardinal principles of missionary
policy : (i) The leading part in the evangelisation of
Japan must henceforth be increasingly taken by the
Japanese Christians themselves. (2) Only missionaries
of genuine spirituality, culture, broad-mindedness,
sympathy, and willingness_ to hide^s_e]f should be sent.
In Bishop Honda's words, " Piety, sympathy, self-denial,
these three in one, are indispensable for a missionary."
But, in addition to missionaries of general culture, it is
to be noted that a number of specialists in education, jst
theology, and i)hi]osophy are needed. (3) The Chris-
tianity to be propagated should be vital and essential. ^'
(4) At the present stage, even more important than an
increase in the number of missionaries is the strengthening
of existing work, particularly by the provision of large (^-y
funds, wisely administered, for equi]:)])ing and endowing
educational institutions, and for sending teachers and
Christian graduates abroad that they may enjoy the oppor-
tunities of study open to the teachers and graduates of the
higher Government institutions. With these principles
in mind, it shotdd be emphatically repeated that the
missionary's work in Japan is by no means accomplished.
There are fields and lines of work that will long be
neglected unless the missionary force is not only kept up
to its present strength, but increased.
3. Institutional Equipment. — The fourth principle
mentioned above is of extraordinary importance in any
plan for the evangelisation of Japan. Even though it
be impossible to increase the missionary force, the funds
from abroad should without fail be increased. But
60 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
both are needed and desired. The Japanese Church
is seriously crippled for lack of proper tools. It is
impossible for many of the congregations to erect for
themselves suitable places of worship, or to equip and
endow the Christian and social institutions so essential
for the Christianisation of an advanced people. The
provision of ample funds is one thing that the Christians
of the West can do for their Japanese brothers with
ti<tf i advantage, ' always provided that the autonomy of the
s^*-*"' Japanese Churches is respected, and that the scale of
equipment is proportioned to the standard of living in
Japan, so that the Japanese Christians can maintain it
j^ermanently.
The institutional equipment most needed, in the
interest of the thorough evangelisation of the country, is
as follows : (i) A Christian university that will rank
with the universities of the West. President Harada voices
the conviction of many m.en in both educational and
evangelistic work when he says: "The need for a
first-class Christian university seems to me paramount.
At the same time, the existing colleges should be greatly
strengthened." (2) The strengthening of all the existing
Christian schools of middle and higher grade, especially
making a few of them colleges and theological schools
of conspicuous excellence in every respect. Twenty years
ago Christian institutions led in education, but schools
now are far behind the public and non-Christian private
institutions. Dr. Ibuka forcefully writes : " There is
nothing, at this juncture, in which the friends of missions
in America and Great Britain can do a greater service
to Christianity in Japan, than by liberal aid in the estab-
lishment of well-equipped and, as far as possible, suffi-
ciently endowed Christian educational institutions of a
higher grade." . . . They " do not realise how essential
strong Christian educational institutions are as instru-
ments for the evangelisation of a nation." (3) The creation
of a Christian literature foundation which would keep pace
with the increasing demand for a scholarly, progressive,.
^ and constructive presentation of_jChri3tian truth. The
JAPAN 61
late Dr. Bennett rightly declared that " Christian litera-
ture calls for less outlay of money than almost any other
evangelistic agency, in proportion to the nujnb^rjreached.'^ -^
As Pastor Uemura has^said, " We are Ughting now without
big guns," so far as first-class Christian literature is
concerned. Pastor Imai feels the need for periodicals,
including a Christian daily Times. (4) The erection and
endowment of such concrete aids to evangelisation as
Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Association
buildings, student hostels, orphanages, a school for
foreign children, and a Union Church for foreigners in
Tokio. The present disbursement of all missionary
societies in Japan, outside of the support of missionaries,
is about §175,000 gold a year. To realise the above
programmeV'the annual expenditure should average at
least $400,000 a year for the next twenty-five years, not
including the outlay for the Christian university.
4. Distribution of the 'Forces.- — ^The wisest distribution
of the 200 additionaf missionaries, excluding wives,
called for by the conservative consensus of opinion
indicated above, is a moot problem. Upon certain
principles all experts seem to agree, namely : (i) New
missionaries should be sent out for specific work, as
determined in advance by the various missions in con-
ference with the related Japanese Churches. (2) Their
location should as a rule be determined on the principle
of occupjdng the strategic centres, but also of advancing ^/.'
along the lines of least resistance, rather than accord-
ing to uniform units of population, (3) They should
always be assigned to places where they can be associated
with competent Japanese colleagues.
Beyond these principles the opinions of leaders range
all the way from those of Pastor Uemura, Prof. E. W.
Clement, and Dr. D. B. Schneder, who favour the con-
centration of missionaries in the large centres, to those
of the Rev. D. Ebina, Bishop McKim, President Ibuka,
the Rev. J. Imai, Dr. O. Cary, Dr. A. T. Howard, and Dr.
J. D. Davis, who favour considerable diffusion into the
smaller cities. Bishop Honda, Dr. Motoda, Rev. St. Geo.
62 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Tucker, Dr. D. C. Greene, Dr. Wm. Imbrie, Bishop
Evington, and the Rev. C. T. Warren take middle ground.
Mr. Uemura holds that the talents of the missionary are
not as a rule given scope in the small city and country
work, and that he and his family deteriorate because of
the isolation. Other Japanese feel that town and country
work by the missionary yields good results provided he
is always 3'oked up with a strong Japanese colleague and
avoids starting preaching places unattached to any local
or national Japanese body. The diffusionists hold that
the missionary is peculiarly fitted to open up new fields
because he has from the nature of the case more in-
dependence, resourcefulness, and prestige than the Jap-
anese pastor, and because many of the strongest Japanese
candidates for the ministry have been discovered in the
country by touring missionaries. Pastor Imai says :
" Except in the case of specialists and other exceptional
men, missionaries do not shine in the larger cities, but
the farther they go up into the country, the more esteemed
and influential they are." The concentrationists believe
thaf^'fhe missionary's chief function is to stay in the
cities and train up a body of Japanese leaders who will
themselves by an irresistible impulse carry the Gospel
to the towns. Archbishop Nicolai has achieved some
success by following this policy.
Striking a mean between these divergent views, we may
say that the additional missionaries should be divided
equally between the larger and the smaller cities. In
" the smaller cities " would be included a number of
provincial capitals as yet occupied by only one or two
missionaries and, say, thirty of the seats of Government
middle and nonnal schools where no missionaries now
reside. If missionaries are stationed in the smaller
cities, there should be in each two missionary families and
one or two unmarried missionaries. This would prevent
breaks on account of furlough, and would allow resident
and touring evangelism to be carried on simultaneously.
A valuable way of supplementing the efforts of the
regular Japanese and foreign forces, especially in the
JAPAN 63
smaller cities, would be to help to maintain thirty or forty
unmarried teachers of English, not necessarily ordained
men, in the provincial Government schools in the interior.
A score of such teachers have for some years done success-
ful work on a self-supporting basis under the auspices of
the Young Men's Christian Association. The extension
of the plan to other schools would require a grant of only
$600 a man per annum on the basis of a three-year con-
tract. This would not crowd out professional teachers,
because such schools rarely employ the whole time of a
foreigner, and only men with a Christian purpose are
willing to put up with life in the interior.
The additional Japanese force would naturally be
distributed more widely than the missionaries.
5. Economy of the Forces. — ^The plans outhned above will
be effective only on condition that a high degree of co-
ordination of the forces and equipment be achieved.
We have become so hardened by custom to the present
loose co-ordination and, at times, competition between
the different missionary societies, missions, and Japanese
Churches that few of us realise even faintly the serious
waste and inefficiency entailed. Instances are constantly
arising and will multiply as the field is more fully occupied,
unless prompt corrective measures are taken. What is
wanted is that the home boards and societies and the
missions on lhe_ field shall carry much farther the steps
already taken in the direction of the joint determination
of pohcy, the co-ordination and combination of institu-
tions, and the united backing of every move of the
Japanese Churches toward co-operation. The Standing
Committee of the Co-operating Christian Missions in
Japan is valuable, but its scope should be enlarged.
Especially should every encouragement be given the
movement now on foot among the Japanese toward an
inter-denominational Federation, which seeks to establish
points of contact between various branches of the Church
without affecting their pohty or doctrine. In time a
joint council composed of representatives of the Federated
Christian Missions and of the inter- denominational Federg.-
64 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
tion of Japanese Churches could, in the judgment of
leaders in Japan, render invaluable service in such ways
\tt as the following : (i) Make an accurate study of the
»,-«*»f*l whole field and formulate a'plan forrfs" evangelisation :
-<--^" an_.obviDus preliminary, but one that Ijas jiever been
attempted. (2) Determine a common standard of^jnqral
discipline for communicants of all Churches — a matter
on which there is now not only difference in practice but a
^ lack of Christian public opinion. (3) Facilitate the co-
ordination and combination of educational institutions.
The tendency for each denomination to develop its own
higher school, theological school, and college or university
can be checked only by a division of the field and by the
development of a mutually supplementary system of
schools, with one or two universities to crown the whole.
(4) Advise as to the location of workers and institutions,
and as to denominational spheres of preponderant responsi-
bility. Missions and Japanese Churches, almost without
exception, honestly desire to avoid overlapping and
interference, but under the present system there is no
representative body to advise or arbitrate on such
problems. It is perhaps impossible now to give any
mission exclusive privileges in any of the larger cities, but
it is possible and desirable to set aside provincial spheres of
preponderating responsibility. Had such a body existed
twenty years ago when a number of new missions came to
Japan, it is likely that several of them would have settled
in secondary cities, whereas now nearly all of them have
their headquarters in Tokio, Kioto, Osaka, or Kobe. (5)
Promote national conferences for the culture of the
spiritual life and the discussion of principles and methods
of work. (6) Act as the dignified spokesman of Japanese
Christian sentiment to the non-Christian world.
VI. FACTORS OF SIGNIFICANCE AND PROMISE IN
THE JAPANESE CHURCH
The surest ground of hope for the early evangelisation
of a considerable proportion of the people, is the fact
JAPAN 65
that within a generation of the founding of the first
church, Christianity lias become natuialised, has given
birtli to leaders comparable in character and ability to
tliose of the West, and has created some aggressive, self-
gdverffing denominations.
There is a general absence of men of means in the
Japanese Church. Yet out of their poverty and in the
lace of economic conditions which leave a very small
margin above living expenses, it should be recorded to
their honour that they have given liberally. The passion
for independence — at one time the source of friction
between the missionaries and the Japanese leaders — has
driven the Churches to strive for self-support. In the
Kumiai (Congregational) body, 68 out of 95 are totally self-
supporting, and the remaining 27 are supported entirely
by Japanese gifts through the Home Missionary Society ;
and in the Nihon Kirisuto Kyokai (Presbyterian) no
organisation is called a church and admitted into the
synod until it has attained self-support. The Methodist
Church and other bodies are pressing in the same direction.
TJic zeal for independence has of late been supplemented
by the missionary spirit. All the larger bodies carry on
more or less home missionary work among their countrymen
in Japan itself, and in Korea, Manchuria, and Formosa,
The contributions of the Nihon Kirisuto Kyokai and
Kumiai bodies totahed $12,000 gold in 1908, an average
of thirty-four cents a member. The Methodist and
Episcopal bodies contributed $4300.
One of the immediate effects of the above-mentioned
developments has been to attract .strqijg young men to
the ministry. Between 1890 and 1904 no graduates of
the Government universities entered Christian callings.
But since 1904 three graduates of Tokio Imperial Uni-
versity have entered the ministry, two have entered the
Young Men's Christian Association secretaryship, and
several undergraduates are preparing for these callings.
The attainment of a large measure of self-support and
self-government by the churches has brought in its train
a better adjustment of the relationship between the
COM. I. — 5
«5
.^-^
66 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
I
^. missionaries and the churches. Now that the chief
V points of friction have been removed, sweeping criticism
' of the missionary by Japanese Christian leaders has
given place to discriminating appreciation and a desire
to see the number of missionaries of the right sort increase.
Yet there is still need for a careful study of this whole
question of relationships, not merely for the sake of
Japan, but to save other less advanced mission fields
from repeating her painful experience.
In view of all these tendencies and the facts previously
brought out, it should be emphatically reiterated that
the issue of the Christian campaign in Japan hinges upon
the Japanese Christian forces incalculably more than
upon the foreign missionaries. Any missionary policy
that puts the missionary's work above 6r_joutside the
Japanese Church, or that relies upon the numbers of
j^.\ missionaries more than upon their quality and their
^ '■' ability to work^congenially with the Japanese, will stir
up strife and end Th disaster. Nothing should be con-
strued so as to obscure the fact that the _ke^ to the
whole problem of evangelising Japan is the raising up of
. a large body of Japanese leaders of power and the placing
of the chief responsibility and authority in their hands.
On these conditions, but only on these, Japan calls insist-
ently for a limited number of new missionaries and for
liberal gifts of money from the West for institutional work.
VII. URGENCY OF THE EVANGELISATION OF JAPAN
The evangelisation of Japan is not an isolated question.
It is intimately involved with the strategy of the world-
wide campaign. This does not imply that Japan is to
^extend her political sovereignty; but her jnoral and
intellectual influence is already powerfully affecting
China, Korea, Siam, India, and even Turkey.
The Koreans by the thousand are accepting the Gospel,
but their childlike faith will soan be imperilled by the
j^/ rationalism and materialism of Japan unless the Japanese
themselves are speedily Christianised."
JAPAN 67
China is to-day taking lessons of Japan. The presses
of Japan are sending Hterature throughout China, and
much of it is materiaHstic and irrehgious. China's, 4000
students in Tokio are marvellously open to the Gospel,
and are being aggressively evangelised by workers from
China, but most of them are untouched by Japanese
Christianity because it is as yet so obscure and weak.
Looking at the whole Far East dis2a.ssionately, we are
led to say: "What is done ior Japan is done for the -" ''
whole Orient. What we do for her we must do quickly,
ofT5trlate~ mourn our shortsightedness." We would not -^jy^
be "alarmi-sts, but the facts are disquieting. As Dr. ^_
SHiiieder' writes, " Religion is excluded from the schools.
There is practically no religious instruction in the homes.
. . . The educated portion of the population is already ^^'•^^ts-
largely naturalistic and agnostic. Few educators have
any use for religion at all. Hence there is a process going
on which, if unchecked, will make it very difficult for the
Gospel to find entrance. Meanwhile, also, the transition ^
stage will pass, and the country will settle down to more
fixed modes of thought. It is therefore necessary to act
quickly and give Japan without delay all she needs in
the way of missionaries and educational institutions."
FORMOSA
1. Population. — The total population is about 3,250,000,
of whom 2,800,000 are Chinese. Dwelling in the
mountains are about 120,000 savage aborigines, the
hereditary foes of the Chinese. On the eastern plains
are about 200,000 civihsed aborigines, who have accepted
Chinese civilisation, and are known as Pepohoans, or
barbarians of the plains. There are in addition 55,000
Japanese who are a controlling force inasmuch as
Formosa has become a part of the Empire of Japan.
Formosa is thus practically a Chinese mission — a fragment
separated from the great m.ass.
The population is accessible. Distances are not great,
the island being only 250 miles in length, and at its
widest point only 80 miles wide. A. railway extending
throughout the whole length of the island touches the
principal centres and has brought all other communities
within easy reach. The problem of travel is further
simphfied by the fact that owing to the widening of the
mountains at a certain point the island is divided into
two sections, the northern section containing about
one-third of the total population and the southern
about two-thirds. There are thus two naturally
defined constituencies, compact and self - contained,
capable of cultivation without the expenditure of time
and strength involved in travelling long distances.
2. Work already Done. — The English Presbyterian
Church has occupied the southern portion of the island
since 1865. They have six ordained missionaries,
three medical missionaries, and six unmarried women
in the 'field. A good plant has been established at
68
FORMOSA 69
Tainan, and from that centre, throughout their southern
tenitory, ninety-five stations have been opened, thirty-
one of which are organised congregations.
The Canadian Presbyterian Church occupies the
northern field. Their first missionary, Dr. G. L. Mackay,
in 1872 made his headquarters at Tamsui on the north-
west coast, which at that time was looked upon as the
future chief seaport of the island. That expectation
has been disappointed, Kilung having been chosen by
the Japanese as a more desirable harbour. Taipeh,
the capital of the island, lies about fifteen miles south
of Tamsui, and has become a city of 109,000. There
is a population of about 300,000, including the city,
within a radius of less than ten miles. Thus by remov-
ing its headquarters from Tamsui to Taipeh, which they
propose to do, the Canadian Mission will have nearly
one-third of the whole population of the northern section
of the island within easy reach.
It would obviously be of advantage if these two con-
tiguous Presbyterian missions were united as are the
Scottish and Irish missions in Manchuria. There ought
to be one strong theological college instead of two small
ones, each inadequately manned. The placing of such a
union college in the middle part of the island would leave
the normal, upper, and lower schools to be carried on by
each of the missions within its own boundaries. At
present both missions have educational and medical
institutions which are being improved and are in the
heart of their constituencies. Whilst each mission
cultivates different phases of mission work the chief
characteristic of both has been the development of a
native ministry. The English Presbyterian Mission has
four ordained and forty-six unordained native pastors.
The Canadian Mission in the north has sixty native pastors,
five of whom are ordained. This feature of their work
can be developed indefinitely until the needs of the entire
population are met by the native Church. Doors are
open and the people responsive. But there is need of
further educational facilities for the training of men.
70 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The advent of the Japanese has proved helpful. They
have introduced a progressive government, and have
established public schools. This has both raised the
standard of education required of the native ministry
and made it possible to get students for the ministry
with higher educational attainments. The Japanese
have expended much money on hospitals and medical
k^ education, greatly to the relief of suffering. Their policy
in this respect tends to obviate the necessity for any
further development of medical missions, and calls for
giving increased attention in the future to the evangelistic,
pastoral, and educational branches of the work.
It has to be added that the Presbyterian Church of
Japan is engaged in direct mission work in Taipeh,
Kilung, and Tainan, and whilst doing efficient work
themselves are co-operating cordially with the other
missions labouring in the same fields. Thus the prestige 2
of the dominant race is given to Christianity in the eyes ,
of the heathen.
Everything is conducive to an aggressive forward
movement in Formosa. In few lands are obstacles so
few and conditions so favourable for speedy and thorough
evangelisation.
KOREA
I. THE PEOPLE TO BE EVANGELISED
In 1887 seven Koreans gathered behind closed doors
in the city of Seoul for the first celebration of the Holy
Communion in Korea. To-day, including adherents,
there are fully 200,000 Koreans who acknowledge Jesus
Christ as their Lord and Saviour. This numerical
growth, wonderful as it is, only partially measures the
influence and development of Christianity amongst the
Korean people. The age-long isolation of the nation
has terminated. Christian missions have worked a
peaceful revolution. New ideas of medical practice
have been inculcated. The educational system has been
reformed along modern lines, and to-day two-thirds of
all the boys and girls in attendance upon school are in
Christian schools. A new literature is being created for
the Korean people. Far-reaching social changes, such
as the raising of the age for marriage and the gradual
doing away with the custom of concubinage, are taking
place ; torture has been eliminated from the penal code ;
factional hatreds have disappeared in the unity which
the Christian Church brings ; and the grip of those
religious beliefs which chained the soul in bondage to
dark and terrifying superstitions has been loosened.
While the task is very far from being completed, and in
fact can be said to be only in its beginnings, yet such
has been the success of the Christian propaganda in
Korea, that it constitutes one of the marvels of modern
history, an inspiration to higher and nobler efforts on
the part of the Christian Church.
7i
72 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Compactness and accessibility are the physical
characteristics of Korea. Openness oi heart and rapidity
of response mark the people. Occupying a peninsula
71,000 square miles in area, it is surrounded by three
great empires — China, Japan, and Russia, with whose
destiny it has been so far more or less related. Its
climate is one of the best in the world, being that of the
North Temperate Zone. The land has great natural
resources in mines, which are now being worked on a
large scale. The Government has granted 184 mining
concessions, thus adding annually to the national wealth.
Fully forty per cent, of its area is said to be capable
of cultivation, and the rice crop alone is estimated to
be worth 130,000,000 yen. There are valuable fisheries,
the annual output of which amounts to millions of
pounds. The greatest economic asset of this nation lies,
however, in this peaceful and naturally diligent people.
The Government census gives the population as about
9.600,000, but this is confessedly an incomplete enumera-
tion, and the missionaries estimate it at twelve millions.
There is some inequahty in the distribution of this
population. It is densest in the south, where two-fifths
of^ the population live on one-fourth of the area ; and
sparsest in the north, where conditions of life are more
rigorous. There are few large cities, the bulk of the
people living in small towns and villages. Seoul, with a
population of 200,000 ; Songdo, with 60,000 ; Phyeng-
yang and Taiku, with about 50,000 each, are the largest
cities, and aU are occupied as mission centres. A trunk
line of railway is making communication along the main
routes of the Empire easy, and steamer traffic is penetrat-
ing to the seaboard and river towns ; but away from
these lines the mountainous character of the peninsula,
lack of communication, and primitive methods of transport,
make some sections difficult of access.
In character the Koreans are a quiet, mild, gentle
race, marked by hospitality, generosity, pa.tience, loyalty,
and gimplicity_.of„iaith^ These qualities, under the
restraining and refining influences of the Gospel, make
KOREA 73
of the Koreans admirable followers of Jesus Christ.
Probably no_]angiiage has been more modified and
changed in such a short time by the injection of Christian
thought and terminology than the Korean. The old
native term for the Supreme Being has been transformed
by_nie_Christian .concept, of _His unity^ as opposed to
polytheism, spirituality as opposed to idolatry, and
infinity as opposed to limited and finite being.
The Christian terms for sin, holiness, eternitj^, love,
soul, spirit, and many others have been made a constituent
part of the thpyght of Korea. The translation of the
Bible and a Christian hymnology, the creation of a
Christian literature, and the preaching of the Gospel far
and wide by missionaries and Korean preachers are
saturating Korean speech with Christian ideas.
Three great faiths have gripped the Korean in the
past — Confucianism, Buddhism, and spirit worship.
These had permeated his whole life and thought and
moulded him to their own forms and ideals. But even
before the coming of the missionaries the hold of these
religions had become visibly loosened. In 1892 a Korean
prince, speaking of his belief that Christianity would
become the dominant faith of his people, declared that
Confucianism had been practically dead in Korea for
three hundred years, no' really great exempler of its
teachings and practice having arisen during that period.
Buddhism was, until recent years, under the ban of the
law, and its priests and nuns regarded as of the abj.ej:t
classes. Spirit worship, while said to be as strong in
tliis~lahd as anywhere in Asia had been relegated to
the women. There has, therefore, been an absence of
that organised opposition to the teachjug of Christianity,
which would have been the case had the Korean religious '; ,
faiths been_iaatmct with Ufa, and in a position to set ^
up an antagonism to Christianity.
It is impossible to estimate with accuracy the extent
of literacy among the Koreans. As a nation they have
ever held scholarship and the_ scholar classes__in_ the -f-
highest__veneration. School facihties, however, wefe
74 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
both primitive and limited, and literacy varies greatly
in different parts of the country. As a general rule it
can be said that all members of the nobility and of the
higher middle class can read, but the men of the lower
classes with the great majority of women are uneducated.
During the past twenty-five years, as the result of
Christian missions, this condition has been materially
improved. The missionaries adopted the Unmum, an
admirable native script which, up to the time of their
coming, had been despised by the literati, and have
slowly introduced it as the chief medium of Christian
literature. Schools started on an extensive scale have
resulted in the general education of the Christians while
the work of Bible-women has lifted thousands of Korean
Christian women out of the class of illiterates. ' — -
II. THE WORK BEING DONE
Eight Christian communions are at work in Korea —
the American Presbyterian Church, North, the American
Presbyterian Church, South, the Australian Presbyterian
Church, the Canadian Presbyterian Church, the American
Methodist Episcopal Church, the American Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, the Church of England
(Society for the Propagation of the Gospel), and the
Seventh Day Adventists. Besides these, the Roman
Catholic Church has a mission staffed with 45 European
priests, and professing a native membership of 60,000,
By an amicable adjustment of boundaries_ the^eight
first-named missions have occupied the country in outline,
and it only remains to strengthen the w^ork within the
territories mutually assigned under these agreements.
As auxiliary agencies there are the Young Men's
Christian Association, the Bible Societies, the Salvation
Army, and a few independent missionaries. The Missions
in Korea maintain 307 missionaries including wives, who
occupy twenty - three mission stations. Five of these
stations are places of joint occupation ; namely, Seoul,
Phyeng-yang, Chemulpo, Fusan and Wensan.
KOREA 75
Every one of the thirteen provinces has its own mission
station, and through the work of Korean evangehsts,
Christianity has secured a foothold in greater or less
degree in nearly every one of the 330 counties which
constitute these provinces. The work done at some of
these mission stations has been remarkable both for its
ra^dity and its permanence. One of the Phyeng-yang
Churches, in the course of a history covering only sixteen
years, has become five churches and, still the congregation
of the parent Church, numbering 2500, is so large that
the men and women have to meet separately. The mid-
week prayer-meeting averages iioo in attendance and is
probably the largest prayer-meeting that assembles any-
where in the world.
Certain striking features stand out markedly in the
work in missions in Korea. Special prominence has been
given to the Bible, which to-day is the book having
the largest sale among the Korean people. It has gone
into the remotest villages of the Empire and much of the
splendid harvest in Korea must be credited to this broad-
cast sowing of God's Word. In this connection special
emphasis has been placed upon the work of Bible training
classes in which fully one-sixth of the entire membership
of the Church in Korea are enrolled. These classes are
held at mission and circuit centres, are attended by
missionaries, Korean pastors, and helpers or assistants,
and continue from a few days to three weeks. Bible
training classes for women are particularly fruitful of , *
results. " "^ ^
The activities of the individual Christian in Korea
challenge admiration. The Church is essentially a
witnessing Church. Often the test question in connection ; ^^
with admission to communicant membership in the "^ ^^
Church is, " Have you led some other soul to Jesus Christ ? " ^-^-g^
And it is usually the case that those who become members '^
in the Korean Church have led others to like precious
faith with themselves. The progress of self-support has
been of a most encouraging character, and it is safe to
assert that fuUy eighty per cent, of aU the work in the
76 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
:_Korean Church is self-supporting. The reports of the
various missions show that many hundreds of groups of
Clmstians are ministered to by leaders and lay preachers,
who serve without compensation. Already the total
offerings of the Korean Church amount to over ^^25,000
annually, the value of which may be judged from the
fact that the smallest Korean coin is of the value of
one-fortieth of an English penny, while the wages
of the labouring man in America and Korea shov/ a
disparity of seven and one-half times against the Korean.
Therefore, if the gifts of the Korean Church were
translated into terms of modern purchasing power,
they should be multiplied sevenfold. The Koreans are
heroically undertaking the cost of constructing their
church buildings and Christian school houses, while at the
same time doing splendid service in the support of pastors
and teachers. One Korean sold his ox, and hitched himself
to the plough, that a chapel might be built ; others have
been known to mortgage their own houses that mort-
gages might be removed from the Houses of God ; to sell
their crops of good rice, intended for family consumption,
purchasing inferior millet to live upon through the winter,
and giving the difference in the cost for the support
of workers to preach among their own countrymen.
Korean women have given their wedding rings and even
cut off their hair that it might be sold, and the amount
devoted to the spread of the Gospel. The Korean Church
is generously awake to its financial responsibility. It is a
missionary Church, and the Gospel has been transplanted
among the colonies of Koreans in Hawaii, California,
Mexico, Manchuria, and Siberia. A Korean came to a
missionary and said that he had heard that in Chientao,
where there are 100,000 Koreans, there were many
brigands, the rice was not good to eat, and many of the
people lived in holes in the ground ; he wished to go there
and preach the Gospel, and as he had three sons, he
thought that, growing up among the Chinese, they would
learn the Chinese language so well that they could become
missionaries to the Chinese. With men of this character
KOREA 77
there is no wonder that the Korean Church grows by
leaps and bounds.
Both medical and educational work are agencies of the
highest order in evangelism. One hundred and fifty
thousand sick people are ministered to annually by
missionary pTiysicians. ^ Every mission school in Korea
is "a centre for aggressive evangelistic work, and in the
years to come the benefits which accrue to the Church of
Christ in Korea from these arms of missionary service
must be great indeed.
During recent years, one of the most conspicuous
features of mission history in Korea has been the Korean
Revival, which has been a genuine Pentecost. Fifty
thousand Korean Christians passed through its refiningfires.
and to-day, through that experience, the Korean Church
knows the terrible character of sin, the power of Christ to
save, the efiicacy of prayer, and the immanence of God.
The Korean Church is singularly free from movements
toward complete independence of control from the great
mother Churches. On the other hand, one of the healthiest
signs "of the time is the achievement of local autonomy by
two of the Korean communions. On September 15th,
1907, the Presbytery of Korea was organised in the city
of Phyeng-yang, with forty-nine ministers and fifty-seven
elders ; seven Korean theological graduates were ordained
to the ministry ; and a mission to the island of Quelpart
was founded. In March 1908 the Korean Annual
Conference of the Methodist'^' Episcopal^ Church was
organised, with twenty-five full members and fourteen
probationers. There are two training schools for workers
in Korea, reporting 411 students under instruction.
With the breaking down of old customs and conditions
in Korea, there has been an increased turning of all classes
to the Christian faith. Of the many political changes
which have taken place during the past twenty-five years,
not one has apparently been inimical to Christianity. The
political disasters which have overtaken the nation have
caused the people to seek the comfort and consolation, the
strength and patience to endure, which can only be found
78 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
in vital Christianity. The Imperial family has always
been Triendly to Christianity, and during recent years
many of the old Yangban, or nobility, have found their
way into the Christian faith ; so that Christianity now
has secured a foothold in every social class.
III. THE WORK TO BE DONE
The final achievement of the task of the Church in
Korea appears to be within reach ; but it should not
be supposed that it can be accomplished without the
most careful planning, vigilant watching, and persistent
pressing of the effort along all lines. The growth of the
Church has been marvellous, but its membership con-
stitutes but a small percentage of the population of the
Empire, and, according to the missionaries' estimates, fully
11,800,000 still remain to be Christianised. The task
which confronts the missionary societies at work in Korea
is that of providing an evangelistic force sufficient to give
direction to the activities of the Church during this genera-
tion ; a teaching force sufficient to man a strong Christian
university, theological and medical schools, and a normal
college, and to direct the educational work which must
centre around each mission station. A start has been
made in work, for unfortunate classes such as the blind,
deaf and dumb, lepers, opium victims, and orphans, work
which needs to be developed and strengthened. There
is special call for an adequate staff to carry on the work
among women, whose openness of mind and responsiveness
of heart constitute them one of the most hopeful classes.
The awakening of the youth in Korea and the rise of a
numerous student body, eager for the best education and
anxious to qualify themselves for worthy living, constitute
one of the greatest opportunities before the Church in
Korea. While the political power of the old nobUity has
been broken, they still enjoy the prestige which comes
from birth and social standing, and the work among the
' higher classes in Korea should receive special attention.
Tlie survey of the various provinces indicates that there
KOREA 79
is a special call for the opening of new mission stations, and
the strengthening of those which already exist, in such
provinces as North Kyeng-sang, Kang-wen, and the
Ham-gyeng provinces. It would seem wise that more
mission stations should be opened in these regions by the
missions concerned. It would appear also that some of
the already existing mission stations in other provinces
stand in need of immediate reinforcement, and the
missionary societies should see to it that the forces are
raised to the basis of efficiency.
In the replies received by the Commission from the
missionaries on the field there is practical unanimity that
the present missionary staff should be increased from about
300 to 480. It should be noted that some of the societies
are more fully manned than others. The Northern
Presbyterian Church now has a staff nearly adequate to its
needs. It is practically impossible to estimate the
number of Korean workers essential to the work of
evangelisatioii^ but it would seem clear from the extra-
ordinary activity of the Korean Christians, and the vital
spirituality of the Church, that this problem is working
its own solution. From all sides comes the statement
that the chief need is proper facilities for the education
and training of the native ministry and lay workers of the
Korean Church. It has to be regretfully recorded that
up to the present time no really large gift has gone to
Korea for educational purposes. There is a crying need
for a propef~eqiiipraerit for institutions of both academical
and theological character. Two well-manned theological
schools, one in Phyeng-yang for the North, and one at
Seoul for the South, would meet the immediate needs of the
field. There seems to be a real need also of establishing
uidustrial schools as a means of strengthening the hands
of native Christians for their work of evangelisation.
The most compelling aspect of the evangelistic situation
in Korea is its remarkable response to every fresh effort.
Such conditions do not permit of delay. The present is
the rare hour, which comes so seldom in the history of a''
people, when all national conditions combine to favour
80 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the speedy evangelisation of the land. Korea is
perhaps the most attractive and responsive field in
heathenism to-day. The old civilisation, with its accom-
panying beliefs, customs, and practices, is thoroughly
4- disorganised. A new Korea is emerging under our eyes.
The national consciousness has been impressed by the
supernatural character of ..the Christian faith. A native
Church, sturdy, fearless, enterprising, instinct with' n^gr
hfe, possessing its own spiritual history of a Korean
Pentecost, determined to do, and, if need be, to die for
God that its people may be won to Jesus Christ, pleads for
our co-operation. The life of the nation has been touched
by the fundamental truths of Christianity. No agency
competing for the attention of the nation has been able to
dislodge Christianity from its premier position. Taken
full advantage of now, it may mean the complete evan-
gelisation of the nation within this present generation.
On the other hand, it is equally true tha.t failure to take
^ advantage of the present opportunity 'may result in a
reaction, disheartening in the extreme to the splendid
native Church now coming into existence, and giving right-
of-way to the forces of materialism, rationalism, and
scepticism. All reasons combine to urge upon the
missionary societies the wisdom and the necessity of
marshalling their forces for the prompt and thorough
evangelisation of Korea.
*'^ ''^^" h('^^'
^i'fT"^
THE CHINESE EMPIRE
In addressing itself to the evangelisation of China the
Church confronts one of her most important and inspiring
tasks. A land which has four thousand years of fairly
credible history, and which possesses to-day in their
integrity all its original resources except forests, is one
whose material foundations for a strong Church are almost
incomparable. It is in a zone " where man has attained
his highest development physically and mentally," and
largely within the " culture zone wherein have originated
and flourished all the great centres of civilisation in ancient
and modern times." Of the nations which flourished
when Babylonia and Egypt were in their glory, this
people alone survive, and after these long millenniums
they are of surpassing vigour and have as well-grounded
a hope of survival as the fittest nations of this modern
age. When Europe, even on its Mediterranean fringe,
was the home of barbarous and savage tribes and nations,
China possessed a culture and a literature which still
abide. Her literary remains are even now regarded as
remarkable in their ethical and political teachings. Her
youth, fired with the new spirit of the West, are learning
the best — gji^he worst — that our civilisation can teach
them, as by thousands they frequent the educational
institutions of Japan, America, and Europe. Religiously,
this wonderful nation makes its strongest appeal, for
while the people have .seen God dimly through the thick
veil of nature, China is more nearly agnostic than any
other great nation. Her three great religions claim the
allegiance of all, except a handful of Catholic and Pro-
testant Christians and a large number of Mohammedans,
COM. I. — 6
ht*^ /7'=>^^-*j c/^At^i,
*•«-{'
82 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
whose influence upon their neighbours is so harmful, that
it would have been better in some respects if the Moslem
/ view of God and religion had never entered the Empire.
Such a land, with so unique a history, a race of such
unexampled vitality and strength, together with the
unrealised yet awful need of God, are factors which in
their combination constitute a responsibility not sur-
passed even in India and the Moslem world. Here the
Gospel, if the Church so wills, can win a numerous, power-
ful, and enduring contmgent for that spiritual Kingdom
which shall outlast even this hoary Empire,
I. THE FIELD TO BE EVANGELISED
1. /is Area. — ^To evangelise the Chinese Empire calls
for the traversing and occupying of 4,277,170 square
miles— about one-twelfth of the habitable globe. In
the present survey China's new province, Sin-kiang, and
its lofty dependency Tibet, are not enlarged upon, and
Mongolia also is practically disregarded. We are thus
concerned with a territory as extensive as India without
Burma, as the Turkish Empire plus Egypt, or, to use a
more famiUar unit, as a dozen United Kingdoms. So
large a territory, most of it densely peopled, calls at the
7 outset for a large' company^' of missionaries and an ade-
^ quate evangelistic programme.
2. Resources of this Field.— Except in Mongolia, in a
section along the Yellow River, and in some of the moun-
tain regions, China has little waste land. Its deposits
of coal are undoubtedly the largest in the world, those in
Shan-si alone being estimated to contain a supply for the
world for thousands of years at the present rate of con-
sumption. In nearly all the provinces, especially in
Yiin-nan and Kwang-si, where thirty billion tons is
the estimate given by the distinguished geographer,
M. Richard, coal is abundant, and as iron ore of excellent
quahty and the necessary flux also abound, China is likely
f to be the coming power in our age of steel. Other minerals
are found in profitable quantities, but next to iron and
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 83
coal in importance are the great agricultural resources of
China. One or two somewhat uncertain crops in the
North, two — in some sections three — dependable ones in
Central China, and three in many sections of the South,
particularly in the low plain of the West River, are
sufficient to supply home consumption, and yet are
uncertain enough to make life strenuous and labour
universal. The preponderance of agriculturists of an
industrious, peace-loving sort, furnishes a good basis for ^^^^
evangelistic work. With the certain and vast enlarge- y,^^
ment of manufacturing interests, due to China's mineral -^
wealth and a corresponding supply of labour, the ability '^^
to aid the churches financially, which at present is small,
will increase, and will greatly promote self-support and ^
z*^ independent evangelistic effort, ^ - tl'
""3. The Climate. — This, too, is more than usually
favourable to the Gospel propaganda. Missionaries may
feel the enervating effects of the summer heats and the
depression arising from the rainy season, but in the
North the winters are very bracing, and even in the
South the increasing use of beautiful and healthful
sanitoriums, where overworked or invalided missionaries
may spend the most trying months, makes it a com-
paratively healthful field even for persons not at all
robust.
4. Accessibility of the Field. — Four thousand miles of
seaboard, counting all indentations ; the great artery of
the Empire, the Yang-tsze-kiang, with its 12,000 miles
of waterways ; and the extensive canal system of Central
and Southern China, furnish the missionary with a
relatively easy — though slow — access to portions of this
extensive field. As for the so-called highways, even the
twenty-one Government courier roads leading from
Peking to the principal provincial capitals, faint praise
can be given them. It is probably true, as M. Richard
writes, that " in no civilised country of the world are
communications so difficult as in China ; " yet this
condition is rapidly yielding before the new passion for
steam traffic on water and land. Steamer lines run a
84 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
distance of 8000 miles ; some 4170 miles of railway are
now open, and trunk lines are projected that will bring
the missionary within a relatively short distance of his
field. Isolated workers are free to avail themselves of
the post office in 3493 towns and cities, and missionary
emergencies are relieved by 25,913 miles of wire con-
necting with 490 telegraph offices. These changes, cost-
ing the societies nothing, and even saving them great
expense, are adding in ever-increasing measure to mis-
sionary efficiency through economy of time.
II. THE PEOPLE TO BE EVANGELISED
1. Their Number. — The most varied estimates — for
they can be little else — are given of China's population.
The Statesman' s Year-Book, 1909, puts it at 407,253,030
for China proper, and 433>553.030 for the Empire.
Dr. Arthur H. Smith, who has not only travelled more
extensively than most missionaries, but has also taken a
census of limited districts, holds that 350,000,000 or
360,000,000 is a nearer approach to " the inaccessible
fact " than the figures just quoted. Assuming the Year-
Book's estimate to be approximately correct, two and a
half times as many people await the Gospel in China as
make up the entire population of Africa. Indeed, if to
the Dark Continent's millions be added the population
of all other non-Christian lands, except India, the total
would fall short of China's inhabitants by some 35,000,000,
a little less than South America's population.
2. Density in Various Sections. — ^The average number
per square mile in China proper is 266, according to the
authority just quoted. That of the United States in
1900 was 21-4 ; that of the United Kingdom in 1901 was
345*8 ; that of Germany in 1905 was 290*4.
So far as sparsity affects evangelisation, the problem of
reaching large numbers is greatest in Mongolia. In
Manchuria the density is two and a half times as great as
in the United States. Kwang-si in the South has but 67
per square mile ; the north-western and south-western
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 85
provinces of Kan-su and Yiin-nan come next with 82 and
84 respectively ; all the rest have upward of 100 per square
mile, culminating in Hu-pei with 492, Fu-kien with 494,
Ho-nan with 520, and Shan-tung with 683 per square
mile. For densely populated districts of China, Dr.
Arthur Smith gives from 1000 to 1500 per square mile,
and Colonel Manifold, 1700 to the square mile for the
Cheng-tu plain. In general it may be said that with
the exception of the valleys of the Ganges and the lower
Nile, no other large sections of mission territory are so
densely populated as m,ost of China's provinces.
3. Chinese Character as Related to Evangelisation. — The
Chinese are the opposite of certain decaying races with
which missions also have to do. They are strong,
energetic, enduring, and long-lived — assets making them
well worth saving, and enabling them when won to do a
strong man's work in saving others.
It is with their other and higher characteristics that
the Church has most to do, and while they possess certain
traits which are inimical to the Gospel, those which
promise most as aUies to the propagation of truth are the
following : love of peace and a high regard for law ;
absence of all caste distinctions and the prevalence of a
democratic spirit ; respect for superiors, whether in age,
position, or intellect ; unusual docility and imitativeness ;
domination by the historic instinct to such an extent that
the past is not only reverenced but is a wholesome check
upon ill-considered innovations in belief and practice ;
a genius for labour, and thrift in making provision for the
future ; a mental capacity and willingness to apply the
mind unremittingly to study which may one day make
them the greatest students in the world ; a perpetual
emphasis of reason, albeit they lack greatly in logical
clearness of thought ; a suavity and tact that will meet any
hard situation and win unexpected victory from apparent
defeat ; a talent for organisation which has made the
Chinese past-masters in combinations, guilds, and societies
of all sorts ; a sense of responsibility which is based on a
high ideal of the duties of kinship ; an economy which will
86 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
one day make the most out of every Christian resource ;
and great susceptibiHty to the influence of a strong person-
ality, be it the missionary or the Master whom he is
trying to imitate. Men of such traits have already made
superb preachers and teachers, as well as most consistent
Christians.
4. The Chinese Language and Evangelisation. — Most of
the diatribes directed against the language have been due,
partly to ignorance of its real excellence, largely to
intrinsic difficulties inevitably connected with a mono-
syllabic tongue, which through a paucity of sj^lables calls
for tonal distinctions, combinations of synonyms and
classifiers taxing the mem.ory, and, above all, an ideo-
graphic writing. Happily it lacks the drawbacks of
declension, conjugation, and grammar.
' The written style is divided into the ku wen, the extremely
concise and hence obscure style of the Classics and early
dynastic histories ; the literary style, or wen li, which is
somewhat more diffuse, yet full of recondite allusions and
word particles incapable of translation ; a simpler form of
this, the hsiao, or easy wen li, largely used in Christian
literature ; and the Mandarin as spoken at Court and
among officials. The latter in its printed form is perfectly
intelligible to 250,000,000 people, a far larger num.ber
than can understand any other tongue. Owing to
variations in tone and pronunciation, there are three
forms of spoken Mandarin, the Northern, Southern, and
Western, though the \vritten Mandarin is practically the
same for all three sections. Christian literature in either
the higher or easier wen li can be understood by scholars
in every corner of the Empire, while a single version of the
Mandarin Bible, when pronounced with the local pecu-
liarities, can be understood by five-eighths of China's vast
population. As for the remaining 150,000,000, many of
the dialects n.re so widely understood that the Church can
well afford to prepare special literature for them. Thus
it is estimated that the Amoy dialect is spoken by
10,000,000, the Cantonese proper by 15,000,000, the
Shanghai dialect by 18,000,000, and that of Ningpo by
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 87
25,000,000. In the case of less widely understood
dialects — and, for that matter, all the dialects of China —
the Romanisation of Christian books simplifies the question
of spreading the Gospel through the printed page. Good
versions of the Bible in all but the least spoken dialects,
mainly of the aborigines, are ready for the Church's use
in spreading the Good News, while an exceptionally
varied and unusually good assortment of Christian books
and tracts still further aids evangelisation.
5. Religious Condition of the Chinese. — ^Three faiths are
recognised by the masses, though a fourth, Mohammedan-
ism, is also represented by several millions. Confucianism
ranks highest theoretically, but, as at present held, it is
mainly to be regarded as a system of political ethics,
though the religious element is not entirely lacking.
The purity of its canonical books and their comparative
lack of the superstitious element, the sublimity of the
imperial worship, despite its naturalistic basis, and
throughout the centuries the numerically unparalleled
influence of Confucius, its throneless king, are at once
stepping-stones to higher truth and obstacles for those
who are content with a lesser good.
Taoism in its original form slightly antedates Con-
fucianism. Its briefest of all historic canons, the Tao Te^
Ching, is one of the worthiest productions of China's ancient
world, though its enigmatical, mystical, quietistic, para- i'r6»^
doxical character prevents any wide use or appreciation ^^.^
of the volume. The later degradation of Taoist teaching """^^
has greatly harmed the Chinese and has furnished most
of theii" superstitions and cunning frauds. Its present
influence for good is practically nil.
Buddhism is th^ religion most comt2ionly held by the
people. It is an aHapfation of the teachings of the
northern school, and hence is not atheistic, as is southern
Buddhism. Yet it has little power over the people,
except in the southern half of China, and ethically and
religiously its fruitage in recent centuries has not con-
tributed to the higher life of the Empire, It is not likely,
however, to prove a serious obstacle to the Gospel, unless
88 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Japanese Buddhists succeed in imparting to it some of
their enthusiasm, and also the measure of illumination
that one or two sects have derived from Christianity
of the Nestorian, Manichaean, and Protestant types.
Mohammedanism, embraced by a population variously
estimated at from five to thirty millions,^ is looked upon
by the Chinese as an alien creed. Descended from Arab
and Turkish soldiers and settlers, who long enjoyed extra-
territorial rights, the Moslem can still be distinguished
from his Chinese fellow-subjects, though his marriage of
Chinese wives, has made him to-day more or less ap-
proximate the Mongolian type. Judged by the stan-
dards of Mohammedan countries the Chinese Moslems
are woefully slack in their religious observances, and
even those who make the pilgrimage to Mecca are not
permitted to enter the precincts reserved for the faithful.
The daily prayers are observed by few beyond the
Mullahs and Ahongs in the mosques, the great majority
being satisfied with a lax observance of Ramadan, circum-
cision, and abstinence from idolatry and pork, though
conditions are more strict in Kan-su, Sin-kiang, and
Yiin-nan than elsewhere. The strong hand of China has
compelled all officials and scholars of the Moslem faith
to conform to the worship of Confucius and the Emperor,
^ and every mosque has its Imperial tablet. These evils,
^- however, they regard as of the "kismet " class.
Through ignorance of Arabic on the part of all but the
leaders, the ordinary Chinese Moslems know but little
of their religidiTTand through the healthy influence of Con-
fucian ethics and Chinese public opinion the lot of their
women is here greatly superior to that in most Moslem lands.
-^ By correspondence in Arabic, the Mullahs are kept au
coiirant with the political and religious movements of the
world of Islam, and by the visits of Moslem missionaries
from Arabia and elsewhere efforts are constantly made to
1 A member of Commission I., Mr. Marsliall Broomhall, has made
the latest and most exhaustive investigation of this subject.
According to detailed information received from each province,
thej' number only from five to ten millions. See the chapter on
" The Moslem Population " in his book, Islam in China.
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 89
revive the faith. The lack of power to discipline the i/f/^
members is, however, recognised by them as a main cause -^
of weakness. ^
Above all these forms of religion, and in connection
with all of them save Mohammedanism, stands ancestor
worship, which survives in strength after four millenniums
or more of domination in the Empire. With all the light
of science and Western philosophy, this conviction and
its cult remain as the Gibraltar which will ever oppose
the messenger of peace, until the Fatherhood of God, the
Creator of the human spirit, drives out the fear of the dead
and implants the sentiment of man's "sonship to the *.
Divine. Confucianist, Taoist, and Buddhist disagree on ^^
many points ; on this rock of ancestral worship they
stand undivided, and unite in protest against Christian
views and practices as to the dead. India has the problem
of caste among the living to call forth the prayers and
energies of the Church ; contrariwise, China has as
her greatest difficulty this worship of, and bondage to,
the spirits of the dead.
All these religions are utterly madequate to meet
China's spiritual need, despite the laudations of Con-
fucius' Tifghly ethical teachings and the attractive
mysticism of Lao-tse. These religious systems have
had full opportunity to be tested, and have failed. Con-
fucianism has doubtless furnished a bond which has
greatly aided in the prolongation of the nation's life and
in promoting to a certain limit its intellectuaHty, but
religiously all of them, and Mohammedanism also, have
failed to satisfy spiritual hunger and give freedom from
sin. Materialism, impurity, corruption, untruth in word
and act, selfishness, superstition, and godlessness prevail
to an extent which dwarfs the spiritual nature of muTfi-
tudes and darkens their future. Confucianism, Taoism,
Buddhism, Mohammedanism cannot .save the Chinese ;
on a limited scale Christianity has proved that it can, and
the wider application of its saving power is one of the
greatest responsibilities and privileges of the Christian
Church.
90 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
III. HOW FAR EVANGELISATION HAS PROGRESSED
I. Occupation by Provinces. — A glance at the carmine-
underscored to\vns and cities of the China section of the
Statistical Atlas, or at the red crosses of Broomhall's
Atlas of the Chinese Empire, vnVi show to what extent
China is occupied territorially. If stations having
resident missionaries were a complete indication of
occupation, Kwang-tung would rank first with 56 stations,
Sze-chwan second with 47, Fu-kien third with 42, Kiang-si
fourth with 37, Shan-si fifth with 35, Ho-nan sixth with
33, Shan-tung seventh with 32, Hu-pei eighth with 31,
Che-kiang ninth with 30, Shen-si tenth with 27, Chih-li
eleventh with 26, Manchuria twelfth with 24, Ngan-hwei
thirteenth with 22, Kiang-su and Hu-nan fourteenth and
fifteenth, each with 19, Kan-su sixteenth with 17, Yiin-nan
seventeenth with 9, Kwang-si eighteenth with 8, Kwei-
chau nineteenth with 6, Mongolia twentieth with 4,
Sin-kiang twenty-first with 3, while Tibet proper is with-
out any station.
That criterion of occupation is not so satisfactory,
however, as is the number of missionaries in each province.
Thus considered they rank in the following order : —
Kiang-su first with 503 missionaries — some 200 of whom,
however, are stationed at Shanghai and serve the whole
Empire — Kwang-tung second \vith 471, Sze-chwan third
with 386, Fo-kien fourth with 378, Shan-tung fifth with
343, Che-kiang sixth with 301, Hu-pei seventh with 280,
Chi-li eighth with 277, Hu-nan ninth with 184, Kiang-si
tenth with 169, Ho-nan eleventh with 165, Shan-si twelfth
with 145, Ngan-hwei thirteenth with 123, Manchuria
fourteenth with 107, Shen-si fifteenth wdth 95, Kan-su
sixteenth with 70, Kwang-si seventeenth with 50, Yiin-nan
eighteenth with 39, Kwei-chau nineteenth with 23, Sin-
kiang twentieth with 18, Mongolia twenty-first with 10,
and last Tibet proper without a missionary.-
Perhaps the most satisfactory of all practicable
standards is occupation as measured by the average
population that would fall to each missionary in a province,
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 91
if the responsibility were equally divided, though even here
the number of Chinese fellow- workers should be known
to make the estimate more just. Dividing the population
by the number of missionaries in each province, we reach
the following results in order of need after Tibet : — Kwei-
chau first with 332,621 people to one missionary, Yiin-nan
second with 316,015, Mongolia third with 260,000,
Ho-nan fourth with 214,041, Sze-chwan fifth with 178,044,
Kiang-si sixth with 156,995, Manchuria seventh with
149,533, Kan-su eighth with 148,363, Hu-pei ninth with
126,002, Hu-nan tenth with 120,487, Shan-tung eleventh
with 111,510, Ngan-hwei twelfth with 111,222, Kwang-si
thirteenth with 102,847, Shen-si fourteenth with 88,949,
Shan-si fifteenth with 84,141, Chih-h sixteenth with 75,585,
Kwang-tung seventeenth with 67,654, Sin-kiang eight-
eenth with 66,667, Fu-kien nineteenth with 60,520,
Che-kiang twentieth with 38,474, and Kiang-su twenty-
first with 27,794, which number would be nearly doubled
if the Shanghai workers were not included. It will be seen
that the most favoured province, Kiang-su, has but one
missionary to 27,794 people, a larger field than the last
Decennial Conference at Madras, as well as China's
Centenary Conference of 1907, declared should be the
maximum number for a single missionary. All these
figures, as well as those in the footnote, are exclusive of
Roman Catholic missions, which report a total of over
1200 European priests and somewhat less than a million
members in China and its dependencies. Looked upon
from any point of view, China is greatly destitute of the
Gospel. (See Table on p. 92.)
2. Character of the Work Done. — As the statistics of the
Conference show a pYepohdefahce of women workers,
including wives of missionaries, those varied activities
included in the phrase "women's work" — evangelism,
education, medical work, literary activities, and tliose
helpful ministrations of the Christian wife, mother, and
hostess — are doubtless in the forefront. When one
recalls the fact that Chinese women are the most religious
element in the population, as well as the persons who
92
CARRYING THE GOSPEL
have most to do with the training of children and with
the creation of future Christian homes and famihes, this
emphasis of woman's work is a hopeful feature of evan-
gelisation.
Direct evangelistic work doubtless occupies most of the
energies of the men, education and medicine following in
this order. Then come other lines of service, not usually
entered in statistical tables, but, nevertheless, exceedingly
important, notably, that of translating and writing
Christian hterature, and the printing and distribution of
the same. If one could tabulate the multitudinous
demands made upon missionaries by the inquiring minds
of New China intent upon learning a thousand things
affecting the life of the new era, it would be a novel and
encouraging exhibit. Remote as some of these activities
may seem to be from evangelisation, all of them are used
with the ultimate objective of making the Gospel known
through word and deed.
Statistics Relating to the Missionary Occupation of
THE Chinese Empire.
(Ordinal numerals indicate rank, beginning with
the highest numbers.)
Province.
Area in Sq.
Miles.
No. of
Inhabitants.
Pop
Sq
.per
uare
Mission
Sta-
Mission-
aries.
No. of
People per
Missionary.
Mile.
tions.
Che-kiang
36,670 22nd
11,580,692
15th
316
9th
30 9th
301 6th
38,474 20th
Chi-li .
115,800 8th
20,937,000
loth
172
12th
26 nth
277 8th
75,585 i6th
Fu-kien
46,320 20th
22,876,540
8th
494
3rd
42 3rd
378 4th
60,520 19th
Ho-nan
67,940 i6th
35,316,800
3rd
520
2nd
33 6th
165 nth
214,041 4th
Hu-nan
83,380 loth
22,169,673
9th
266
nth
19 15th
184 9th
120,487 loth
Hu-pei .
71,410 14th
35,280,685
4th
492
4th
31 Sth
280 7th
126,002 9th
Kan-su .
i25>450 7th
10.385,376
i6th
82
17th
17 i6th
70 I 6th
148,363 Sth
Kiang-si
69,480 15th
26,532,125
6th
3S2
6th
37 4th
169 loth
156,995 6th
Kiang-su
38,600 2ISt
13,980,235
I2th
362
7th
ig 14th
503 ISt
27,794 2ISt
Kwang-si
77, 200 12th
5.142.330
20th
67
1 8th
8 18th
50 17th
102,847 i3lh
Kwang-tung .
99.970 9th
31,865,251
5th
315
Sth
56 ISt
471 2nd
67,654 17th
Kwei-chau .
67,160 17th
7,650,282
iSth
114
14th
6 19th
23 19th
332,621 ISt
Manchuria .
363,610 4th
16,000,000
nth
44
19th
24 1 2th
107 74th
149.533 7th
Mongoiia
1,367,600 ISt
2,600,000
2ISt
2
22nd
4 20th
10 2ISt
260,000 3rd
Ngan-hwei .
54,810 19th
23.670.314
7lh
432
5th
22 13th
123 13th
111,222 I2tll
Shan-si .
81,830 nth
12,200,456
14th
149
13th
35 5th
145 I2th
84,141 15th
Shan-tung .
55,970 iSth
38,247,900
2nd
683
ISt
32 7th
343 5th
11 1,510 nth
Shcn-si .
75i27o 13th
8,450,182
17th
III
15th
27 loth
95 15th
88,949 14th
Sin-kiang
550,340 2nd
1,200,000
22nd
2
2ISt
3 2ISt
18 20th
66,667 i8th
Sze-chwan .
218,480 5th
68,724,890
1st
314
loth
47 2nd
386 3rd
178,044 5th
Tibet .
463,200 3rd
6,500,000
19th
14
20th
...
...
Yun-nan
146,680 6th
12.324.574
13th
84
16th
9 17th
39 i8th
316,015 2nd
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 93
In connection with the direct work of evangehsm there
is an increasing emphasis being laid upon a better prepara-
tion of Chinese evangehsts, preachers, and Bible-women.
They must be better educated and trained if they are
to make the Gospel known effectively in the new
regime of better educated and more critical men. While
in interior sections this need is less acute, yet everywhere
more time and force are put into this branch than ever
before.
The various missions increasingly look upon auxiliary
agencies as important factors in the direct evangelistic
propaganda. Accordingly, they are emphasising educa-
tion under Christian influence as a necessity for carrying
the Gospel intensively and intelligibly to the future
leaders of the Church, and to that other extra- and anti-
Christian element of the population which cannot be
reached except by this indirect line of approach. How
really such education aids in extending the Gospel may
be seen from the reports coming from the Union college
at Wei-hsien and the Methodist University in Peking, both
of which are devoted primarily to providing general educa-
tion, yet in the former over a hundred students pledged
themselves in 1909 to give their lives to the ministry, while
the Volunteer Band at Peking exceeds that number by
nearly a hundred. Some of the centres, notably the
capital, offer indirect opportunities for bringing the
Gospel to the higher classes, who will readily attend
lectures of a general character, and who later, through
the" friendships thus formed, listen interestedly to the
claims of Christianity. The general publications of the
Christian Literature Society are similarly useful in extend-
ing the Gospel indirectly. In a word, the character of
evangelistic work is broadening in those sections where
the new regime makes it desirable, and the cause is
profiting thereby.
More hopeful than anything hitherto experienced,
with the possible exception of what is stated in the next
paragraph, is the advent within two years of special
evangelistic campaigns. The late Dr. Lee and the pastors
94 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
prominent in the wonderful revival in Hsing-hwa-fu last
summer, on the Ciiinese side, and the Rev, J. Goforth of
the missionary force, illustrate the fruitfulness of this
hopeful advance. While it is more useful in communities
where a large Christian nucleus is present, this method is
Lp likely to become permanent, and the manifest blessings of
1907, 1908, and 1909 will doubtless be many times greater
in the future,
3, Classes Reached Most Largely. — Unhke Japan, where
the middle class of Samurai were those earliest reached
by the missionaries, in China Jesus' primary law, " To
the j)oor the Gospel is preached," has most widely pre-
vailed, largely because the higher classes were practically
inaccessible until the present decade dawned. Indeed,
the most despised of the poor, the aboriginal tribes, have
recently been most open to the Gospel message. One corre-
spondent labouring among the Nosu and Miao, tells of
" many tens of villages that have become wholly Christian;
in hundreds of viUages Christian bands are living and
witnessing for Jesus ; . . . and the outcome of it all is
that in 1909 there are probably 50,000 people nominally ■.
■y Christian." And he is describing an evangelistic move-
ment of only five years' duration.
As a definite class, women are being most specifically
sought. For reasons already stated China's women are a
strategic element to be won ; yet unless specially sought
after, they cannot be largely affected by the Gospel.
Attendance upon an ordinary street chapel is out of the
question, and even attendance at Sunday church service
calls for a willingness to face criticism and misunderstand-
ing which few are ready to meet, particularly among the
wealthy and official classes. It is a cause for thankfulness,
therefore, that so large a number of women have been
brought within sound of the Gospel by the loving and
patient efforts of the women missionaries and the equally
faithful Bible- women. It is interesting to hear of efforts
for the higher classes, particularly in Peking, where even
princesses have been influenced through a wise use of
lectures, informal talks, and social intercourse. Here,
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 95
however, as everywhere, the task is time-consuming and
to some extent unprofitable. As Mrs. A. H. Mateer of
Shan-tung writes : " Working for such ladies is most
unsatisfactory ; for, as they have plenty of time, they
cannot understand why the foreign missionary should not
enjoy the frequent a.ll-day calls, in which they delight."
Though the number is still small, relatively speaking,
the greatest advance in the past five years has been made
in reaching the educated men — scholars, students, and
in many cases officials also. A leading part in this
advance, so far as officials and the literati are concerned,
has been played by the Christian Literature Society,
while effective work in general has also been accom-
plished through the publications of the Tract and Bible
Societies. The Young Men's Christian Association has
rendered an excellent service in the same line.
IV. DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF WIDE EVANGELISATION
I. Governmental Opposition. — It would be folly to
paint the picture of New China wholly in roseate colours.
" A great door and effectual is opened unto me," wrote
St. Paul, " and there are many adversaries." It is equally
true of the Church's position to-day in the Far East.
Official opposition of various sorts is reported. Since the
death of their Imperial Majesties, foreign influence seems
to be feared more than ever. The rulings of the Edu-
cational Board hold Christian institutions to be without
standing and consequently the graduates and students
of such schools are deprived of the franchise in connection
with the new provincial assemblies. Missions are ex-
periencing increasing difficulty in buying property and
getting deeds signed, due ostensibly to local obstructions
but supposed to be occasioned by higher powers ; in
Hu-nan, Hu-pei, and Kiang-su, false churches caUing
themselves Christian have been established to secure
legal advantage, thus intensifying governmental dislike
of Christianity. These and other cases are obstacles
which for the time need great wisdom and patience.
96 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
yet they do not especially militate against evangelistic
work in new territory.
2. The New National Spirit. — This is both a help and a
hindrance. " China for the Chinese " means opposition
to many things foreign, and so sometimes occasions
difficulty, since many look upon Christianity as a foreign
religion. But it has in a few cases, at least, made the
Church leaders decide to be more independent of foreign
aid, and if rightly guided it will prove, on the whole,
advantageous, as in India. Moreover, it forces the Church
to prove its power to be the leaven of higher civic righteous-
ness and of a helpful public spirit, and thus in Chih-li,
vSze-chwan, and in some of the ports, it has led to the
winning of the friendship of not a few influential persons.
It calls, however, for a greater willingness on the part of
missionaries to humble themselves and to be content not
only to minister but to illustrate the spirit of John the
Baptist by insisting that the native Church must increase
and they must decrease.
3. Failure to Appreciate the Chinese. — A difficulty,
which militates against the cordial acceptance of the
missionary evangelist, is well set forth in a paragraph
from the reply of Mr. D. E. Hoste : " It is clear that in
the case of a strong and original race such as the Chinese,
with a powerful and complex civilisation of their own,
the problem of real influence — to say nothing of leader-
ship— amongst them becomes a more difficult one. One
essential factor of its successful solution ... is the vital
necessity of those engaged in this work gaining an
adequate knowledge and understanding of the existing
civilisation of China. . . . This is essential to strong
influence amongst the Chinese. Hence it is important
that the adoption of practical measures for dealing more
effectively with this side of the subject should go hand in
hand with those adopted for increasing the number of
foreign missionaries." Dr. Richard and a few others are
of the same opinion. The Gospel can only be made
known widely by missionaries who keenly appreciate
the intrinsic greatness of the Chinese and who are able
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 97
to use helpful elements in Chinese history and racial
character for the extension of the Kingdom of God.
4. Harmlul External Influences. — Literature of in-
decent or, more commonly, of agnostic and atheistic
character, is an obstacle which is of growing seriousness.
These books are from Japan and Europe mainly, and in
some cases attack Christianity with the utmost boldness.
Many of them are the more insidious because of their
advocacy of materialistic views and extreme evolutionary
positions. The increasing use of foreign liquors and new
forms of gambling are other items of a similar kind.
The importation of prostitutes and the immoral life of
members of foreign communities, which is supposed to
represent modern civilisation, has harmed the cause in
Manchuria, as well as proved a bane to young Chinese.
Western education at home and as obtained by students
in America and Europe, has weakened the old moral teach- , ..
ing in some cases without adding Christian correctives,*
These examples suffice to show how important it is for
Christianity to multiply its agencies for overcoming hostile
influences.
5. Religious and Anti-Religious Movements. — China
is receiving from Japan, especially on the north-east,
an impetus toward Buddhism, which has been sometimes
openly hostile to Christianity. In Fu-kien it has been
employed as a political and governmental leverage, and
has won the nominal allegiance of a few. Confucianism
shows signs of revival. A talented Chinese, M.A. of
Edinburgh, has translated and anglicised Confucius in a
manner that is sure to attract students and scholars.
The Government also is promoting Confucianism. In
January 1907, it was made the State religion in a more
formal way than before, and the public teaching of its
doctrines has revived. The Rev. G. H. Bondfield writes :,
" Without question, attempts wiU be made to recon-l
struct Chinese thought on the basis of Confucian teaching, \ 7^
with a little Western science and religion thrown in." '
To this Taoism wiU doubtless contribute some of its highest
teachings. Irreligion is also at the front. In Canton
COM. I. — 7
m CARRYING THE OOSPEL
the Bible is being attacked as untrue and the product
of designing priests, and it is argued that neither God
nor devil exists. In Manchuria a " No God Sect " is in
active existence, including in its membership some of
the best Government students. This sect has followers
among the student class in many parts of China. It
has been stimulated by the wide circulation of an able
translation into Chinese of Spencer's Evolution and Ethics.
Of a quite different sort is the occasional agitation, once led
by a censor, for the establishment of some form of Chris-
M tianity as a State religion, that it may thus come under
'^ Government control and undergo modifications fitting
it to the needs of Chinese life. The Rev. D. L. Anderson,
D.D., in commenting on this proposal, writes : " The
discussion can hardly be taken seriously ; yet it shows
that in the mind of the Government the most objection-
able thing about Christianity, as they understand it, is
the foreigner." Few of these movements, however, are
anything but ephemeral. They are at least in hopeful
contrast to the universal religious apathy of two decades
ago, and are signs of an awakening religious longing for
something different from what China has had in the
past. They also are a call of opportunity to the man who
has a Gospel to preach, and who strongly knows Him
whom he has believed. r^
V. THE EVANGELISTIC TASK REMAINING TO BE DONE
I. Virtually Unreached Sections. — The two Atlases
already mentioned must again be resorted to, if one
would gain any clear idea of the territory not j^et entered.
Omitting duplicates, 527 cities and towns in all are
permanently occupied by resident missionaries. Any
complaisancy occasioned by this figure will disappear
when we recall that in M. Richard's list of places includ-
ing and ranking higher than market towns, there are
1971 in China and her dependencies. Thus of these
important centres, only twenty-six and seven-tenths
per cent, have resident missionaries. While all the
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 99
provinces and, except Tibet, all the dependencies have
mission stations, there are, nevertheless, large regions
practically untouched. Tibet, as elsewhere explained
in detail, is unreached ; Sin-kiang has but three stations,
though as the table shows, owing to its sparse population,
it has a larger percentage of missionaries to the popula-
tion than all the densely inhabited provinces save Fu-
kien, Che-kiang, and Kiang-su ; and Mongolia, equalling
in area six German ys, and almost as large as China Proper,
has but four stations and ten missionaries, plus the col-
portage work of the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Remembering that this vast expanse is mainly what two
Chinese names of the country suggest, " Sandy Waste "
and " Rainless Sea," we may find this not so regrettable
as at first thought it may appear, though the destitution
of these nomads is as real and appalling as that of
dwellers in most sparsely settled pastoral regions. The
northern half of Manchuria is without a missionary,
and nearly half the remainder is absolutely unreached,
the southern and western sections alone being occupied.
One correspondent from this more favoured section
thinks that two-thirds of the population in his field have
not even been approached.
Of the eighteen provinces, it is difficult to speak at
all accurately as to what districts are wholly without
the Gospel, since we have no reports of itineration.
Apparently four-fifths of Kan-su, Yiin-nan, Kwei-chau,
and Kwang-si are not only absolutely unreached, but
are likely to remain so untU missionaries are near enough
to be accessible to the people. If this is a fair estimate
— probably it is an underestimate — the Church has in
these four sparsely settled provinces a field as large
almost as Burma and Bengal combined, with a popula-
tion equalling that of the Turkish Empire plus Ceylon,
without any regular preaching of the Gospel. These
are perhaps the largest sections thus untouched, though
extensive regions in Sze-chwan and Shen-si should not
be forgotten. In addition, in aU the provinces there
are great and populous districts whose inhabitants,
100 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
humanly speaking, are not likely to hear the Gospel
unless the Church makes adequate provision to make
it known. Thus in Kv/ang-tung, the first province to
receive a modern missionary, after more than a century
there are stretches of territoryV^in the north, west, and
south, equalling in jDopulation the entire number in-
habiting the Pacific Islands and the Philippines, still
without a preacher. Dr. Fulton reports that within
140 miles of the scene of Morrison's labours there are
three counties containing some 10,000 villages, averaging
250 inhabitants each, and so near each other that in some
cases from a central point 600 villages may be counted
within a radius of five miles. In hundreds of these
no missionary or Chinese preacher has ever set foot.
Dr. Gibson, who labours in the north-east section of the
same province, says, in explanation of his statement,
that his field is somewhat " adequately occupied," that
" there is hardly any village which has not now a Christian
chapel or place of worship within at most a distance
of six miles." Territorially and actually Fu-kien is
only half-occupied, though theoretically all portions of
the province have been allotted for evangelisation.
Writing of Shan-tung, China's Holy Land, Dr. H.
Corbett! asserts that "there are thousands of flourishing
towns and villages where as yet there are no Christians,
or schools under Christian influence." Even Kiang-su,
which has both the largest number of missionaries and
the smallest number of inhabitants to each worker, is
so inadequately reached that there are many to'.vns
of 10,000, and scores of villages of 5000, stiU without a
preacher. This, however, is little to be wondered at,
as the large proportion of workers located in Shanghai
leaves each of those in other sections with a parish of
over 50,000 to care for.
2. Classes most Neglected. — " A volume the size of the
Encyclopisdia Britannica," writes the Rev. John Archi-
bald, " would barely suffice to give particulars of the
sections of our field and the classes of our people who
are absolutely neglected, or but partially reached."
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 101
Yet if individuals and larger aggregations from certain
groups are regarded, most classes have to some extent
been reached. Even the late Emperor and the Dowager
Empress received and read — in part at least — the New
Testament, His Imperial Majesty venturing to suggest
improvements in the style. The Empress Dowager
on more than one occasion showed special favours,
and gave costly presents to women missionaries who had
been at the Palace as interpreters to the wife of Minister
Conger ; yet she remained to the end true to the received
faiths, especially Buddhism. Those classes most neglected
are wealthy men and officials — to an even greater extent,
their wives and children — and the literati and Govern-
ment students, the last two classes despite the com-
parative success which has rewarded the efforts made
to reach them. The aboriginal tribes, especially those
in South- Western China, are largely unevangelised.
As they number some 6,000,000 — more than half of
Korea's population — and as they respond so readily
to the evangelistic : message, this neglect is deplorable.
The boat population, numbering millions, especially in
Kwang-tung and Kwang-si, is likewise without workers,
the Rev. I. Genahr stating that in Canton alone this
means the neglect of 100,000 — more than the population
which in the New Hebrides has awakened such sympathy
and effort. Manchus, clerks, and apprentices in shops,
soldiers, beggars, defectives, lepers, fallen women, and
mountaineers are other classes which are inadequately
touched by Christianity.
^China's ', many! millions of Mohammedans likewise arc
as a class almost wholly untouched. While they may
be reached in the street chapels or by open-air preaching,
the workers who have given any special attention to them
could be numbered on the fingers of one hand. Some
few Arabic Scriptures have been distributed among the
Moslem leaders, but there are only two tracts in Chinese
specially prepared for use among them. Unfortunately,
one of these is so polemic that few Mohammedans would
read it through, and the other one has failed after many
102 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
years to run into a second edition, not because it is un-
suitable, but because the need for it has not been
realised. China has several colleges whach are the
stronghold of Moslem thought and the training-ground
of the Chinese Mullahs. One of these in Peldng has
235 students under the tuition of one of the Ulema of Al
Azhar University in Cairo. Upon these strategic centres
Christian effort should be focused, and one or two men
specially set apart for this purpose. Such workers
would need a knowledge of both Chinese and Arabic.
While the rebellions of the last century greatly crippled
Islam's cause in China, the recent, though fruitless,
attempts to establish consulates for the protection of
Moslem interests in China, and the starting by thirty
Mohammedan students at Tokio of a quarterly magazine
in Chinese, entitled Moslems Awake, for private circula-
tion throughout China, are indications of an activity
which needs no comment. Another indication is the
dispatch of a Turk as " the first modern resident Moslem
missionary in China."
VI. WHAT THIS TASK DEMANDS OF THE CHURCH
I. An Adequate Supply of Missionaries. — This demand
is self-evident, yet when workers at the front are asked
how many are required, they vary widely in their replies.
Some are deterred from stating their real views, lest
they be regarded as unpractical and blind to the
financial limitations. A few prominent workers would
not advise any reinforcement just now, since the coming
of a large number would probably occasion govern-
mental opposition, and call forth the antagonism of
a numerous body of patriots who are fearful of foreign
influence. A still smaller number, and those in older
portions of the field, argue against the sending of many
new missionaries, on the ground that it would call for
a large expenditure of money, which could be more
profitably used in employing Chinese evangelists and
preachers. The number of missionaries most frequently
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 103
stated as desirable is 16,000, thus quadrupling the present
force. While there are great differences as to figures,
ratios to the population, etc., there seems to be a pretty
general agreement that most walled cities should be
entered for residence, as these are at once important
centres and widely distributed. From a rough survey
of the field as a whole, including the Fu cities of import-
ance, as well as most of those of inferior rank, it has
been calculated that an irreducible minimum of 10,000
missionaries are required for the evangelisation of China,
and that if it were feasible, a much larger number
would be desirable. It should be added, however, that
some experienced missionaries incline to the opinion of
the Rev. John Ross, D.D., who says : " One missionary
to a quarter of a million people is an adequate pro-
portion, if he is the kind I desiderate."
As to the proportion of men to women and of the
various classes of workers, there is the utmost divergence
of opinion. The missionaries apparently heartily agree
with a section in one of the resolutions of the Committee
on Evangelistic Work, passed by the Centenary Confer-
ence two years ago : " Resolved, That for the complete
prosecution of missionary work, educational, medical,
and charitable agencies are indispensable, and in the
working of such agencies their essential evangelistic
purpose should always be emphasised ; further, we
as a Conference desire to affirm that every missionary,
whether engaged in pastoral, educational, medical, or
charitable work, is first and foremost an evangelist."
Yet there is little doubt that the opportunities of the
hour and the deepest needs of China call for a larger
number of evangelistic missionaries than of all other
sorts combined. The women should share largely in this
service. The best opinion seems to be that this larger
force of workers should not settle in the old centres,
particularly those already well provided with missionaries,
but should be distributed more generally throughout the
field. Yet there are men of wide experience, like the
Right Rev. Bishop Roots, who hold the contrary opinion.
104 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
2. The Chinese Force Required.— Ks one reads the
arguments and appeals for a larger number of Chinese
fellow-workers than at present it seems possible to furnish,
one feels the greatness of the Church's opportunity.
As an item of economy, of effectiveness, and of states-
manship, it is manifestly wise greatly to increase this
arm of the Church. In general it may safely be estimated
that from ten to fifty Chinese will be required to one
missionary, the number varying with his strength and the
fitness of his fellow-workers. The total number must
manifestly be much beyond any thus far employed ;
some missionaries suggest figures reaching 100,000.
Professor Ding, a leading Chinese Christian, asserts
that for the province of Fu-kien alone 15,256 Chinese
preachers would be required for adequate occupation.
A frequent reply is that the number of properly trained
Chinese workers cannot be too great. These, as called
for by our correspondents, should be in a ratio of three
men to two women.
3. Adequate Training for Workers. — While this is the
subject of the special inquiry of another Commission,
a word may be said upon this point, in representative
quotations. Such training Dr. Timothy Richard describes
as the result of a careful " study of the science of success-
ful mission work among non-Christians from the days
of the Apostles until now, and the art by which all great
religions have won the hearts of their followers." The
Rev.C. J. Voscamp, in writing of the training that prepares
for instruction of the Chinese staff, contends that such
work can be properly done only by " those who have
gained missionary experience and have obtained insight
into the soul of the people."
Desirable as such training is for the missionary, the
Rev. Arnold Foster points out its equal necessity for
the Chinese evangelists. " At present," he writes,
" many of the Chinese employed in mission work are
quite unfit for it. Merely to multiply their number by
taking on others, who would probably be even less fit,
would not be for the advancement of the Church of
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 105
Christ." There is a consensus of opinion that their
training should be such as will produce " a body of Chris-
tian men of such culture and character that they shall
take rank among the leaders of New China ; men' who
are fitted to cast the leaven of the divine life into the
hearts of this people, that through individual renovation,
Government and society may be permanently renovated."
4. Comradeship and Co-operation. — It is refreshing to
note the deepening spirit of brotherliness which is coming
to be more and more noticeable in the relationships
between the foreign and Chinese staff. A sense of genuine
comradeship and Christian oneness is' growing in strength
and commonness. In view of the present delicate rela-
tions between the Chinese and all foreigners, which are
affecting even the Chinese Church, this attitude is essential
to evangelistic success.
The outstanding features of the Centenary of Christian
Missions in China were federation and co-operation.
During the subsequent two years this has materialised in
a gratifying way, particularly in West China and in Chih-li,
the Imperial Province. This will affect the evangelistic
phase of the enterprise more vitally than any other line
of work except education and literature. It makes
possible a distribution and allotment of the field, a trans-
fer of church members from one body to another, and a
genuine realisation of the phrase of the Creed, " I believe
in . . . the communion of saints." Already, too, it
has led to an interchange of preachers, especially in
evangelistic services. The broader evangelistic campaign
involved in ca.rrying the Gospel to aU the Chinese can only
be successful when the banner of unity and co-operation
goes before the Christian workers.
5. Statesmanship and Er^vision. — Not a few who have
contributed to this survey have deplored the lack of plan
and of vision manifest either in their own society's policy,
or in that of other societies._ The too frequent absence
of co-ordination between different branches of a society's
work leads to friction between individuals, or to different
missions having different policies, instead of their making
106 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the combined activities minister to a great and worthy end.
A failure to foresee the probable future of the Empire and
to prepare for its demands is also noted. What does
the nation demand, unconsciously of course, of the Church ?
Leadership of a Christian sort for one thing, and too little
of that is aimed at in training promising young men and
women. Through the Church's evangelistic arm the
Empire should receive a wide dissemination of the simple
Gospel, which one of the most prominent of the New
Chinese, having his Ph.D. from abroad but a true Con-
fucianist still, holds is the real need of his people ; since
" our religions only make moral truths known to us, while
Christianity furnishes with these truths an enabling power
which ours wholly lack." When a certain evangelistic ><:,
jnissionary in North China begins his work by polite and
cordial visitation of officials and other representatives
in order to acquaint them with his object in coming to their
city, and succeeds in showing that Christianity cannot
but aid the new national life, he is at once far-sighted
and statesmanlike. Too few missionaries seem to imitate
his example, or that of a society which in beginning educa-
tional work sent its representatives, first of all, to the
provincial governor to acquaint him fully with their plans.
While he at first objected strongly to the decidedly
Christian character of their scheme, the interview intel- .
lectually convinced him of the soundness of the missionary
position. As the evangelist is the pioneer in almost all
cases, he can prepare the way for the Church, if he has
the requisite Christian prevision, as no others can. But
to be more specific, a few problems, present and prospec-
tive, demanding wisdom and prevision, are the following :
the proper development of Churches growing out of so-
called mass movements in Manchuria and Kwei-chau ;
the steady and slow work among the peasant class, not
so attractive perhaps as that for students and some others,
which awaits organisation and emphasis ; the securing
of a considerable body of specially trained men for the
production of literature and for work among scholars,
involving great expense, relatively speaking, which should
THE CHINESE EMPIRE 107
be wisely and liberally undertaken. Another problem
of statesmanship is that of a wiser distribution of forces
in accordance with prevalent ideas of comity. Possibly
Bishop Bashford's " missionary Hague Tribunal," to which
each mission proposing to enter a new field should submit
its plans, might thus be enabled to plan " with states-
manlike vision for the occupancy of the entire field."
Yet it is the Church at home that is most likely to lack ^^<
prevision. Here is a great Empire in a state of flux ; its
doors are wide open and fuel of known value can be added
to the flames. The plastic metal is just at the point
where it can be moulded as the workers will, if a proper
plant and force were at hand. But the Church only sees the
demands at home, or is busying itself about some enter-
prise over the sea which does not call for such immediate
and energetic action. The opportunity passes, and in
future years when a greater willingness and vision
come, it may be too late. With China it is pre-
eminently " an age on ages telling." Statesmanship and
prevision, together with reliance upon the power of God,
can secure Christianity's future. If all the Churches will
now work unitedly, not as a foreign invading force
but as a friendly company of men and women devoted to
humanity and the Gospel, the coming centuries will
praise the wisdom and foresight of our day.
SIAM
SiAM has a population of 6,686,846. Of these the two
milUon Siamese or Thai are the dominant race, but they
are an indolent people, and so lacking in energy that
their exceedingly fertile country is but very poorly
cultivated. For centuries they have been Buddhists.
They possess an extensive literature in the Pali language.
About sixty per cent, of the boys spend some time
in the monastery learning to read and write. Thus
these arts are general amongst the male popula-
tion, although until 1874 the women and girls were
forbidden to learn to read and write. Since the year
1868, Siam, under the enlightened rule of King Chulalong-
korn I., has been open to western culture in a remarkable
manner. Wonderful progress has been made in all
branches of administration. Even compulsory education
has been introduced, the Government system of schools
being in a most promising condition. But in spite of all
this the soil is not receptive to Christianity.
Closely related to the Siamese, really of the same
stock, are the Laos or Lao, who occupy the tributary
states in the north of the countrJ^ The Laos-speaking
Thai extend far beyond the boundaries of Siam. It is
safe to state that there are from 7,000,000 to 12,000,000
of Laos-speaking people, about two or three million of
whom live within the boundaries of Siam. The re-
mainder are to be found in British Burma, in French
Indo-China, and in Yunnan. The American Presbyterian
Laos Press in Chieng-Mai, North Siam, is the only press
in existence which prints the Laos language. More than
half the Bible is already in print, and other portions are in
108
SIAM 109
process of translation. A monthly Christian paper is also
issued in Laos.
Since the close of the eighteenth century large numbers
of Chinese have immigrated to Siam ; they are related
to the Siamese in race and language, and at the present
time number 2,000,000, or onc-thkd, and in the south
one-half of the population. Those born in the country
become completely naturalised, even in language. Over
1,000,000 of the inhabitants are immigrants from Burma,
the Malay Peninsula, and French Indo-China.
Protestant missions in Siam, as in so many other parts
of South-Eastern Asia, were, up to the middle of the last
century, looked upon as preparatory to work in China.
The London Missionary Society, the American Baptists,
and the American Board worked here for several decades,
but on the opening up of China all gradually withdrew.
Thus the task of Christianising Siam has fallen chiefly to
the lot of the American Presbyterian Mission, which
entered in 1840. This Society has two missions in Siam,
one to the Siamese, the other to the Laos-speaking Thai
in the north. In both missions the important branches
of work are the schools for boys and girls, which are mostly
boarding schools, and medical mission work. Along
these preparatory lines the success of the Mission has been
remarkable. The Siamese have approved the introduc-
tion of regular schools, of vaccination, and of well-con-
ducted hospitals. By these means the Mission has v/on
the general confidence and friendship of the highest
authorities.
In the Siam Mission five men have been engaged in
evangelistic work, while several physicians and women
have helped in it. In the Laos Mission such preaching
is carried on more vigorously. Extensive itineration has
been a marked feature of the work. Prolonged tours
have been made repeatedly to the Laos Thai in Burmese,
French, and Chinese territory, where the missionaries have
found earnest attention to their message and have heard
repeated requests that they should come to hve among
the people.
no CARRYING THE GOSPEL
In spite of sixty-nine years of work only 805 com-
municants have as yet been gathered from among the
Siamese. The great mass of the population can scarcely
be reached without greatly increasing the number of
purely evangelistic missionaries. One correspondent
writes : " Certainly I think the proportion of evangelistic
workers should be increased. To occupy adequately
the field and ensure the carrying of the Gospel to the
people within a reasonable period, I should say at least
twenty-five general evangelistic missionaries should be
regularly employed, with adequate means of locomotion,
and a sufficient number of helpers. Other classes of
missionaries need not be much increased until the results
of the work demand them."
In comparing this field with the flourishing mission
fields of the Presbyterian Mission in Korea, Shantung,
and Japan, the insufficient native staff is particularly
striking. In the native workers hes the secret of the
success of the Presbyterian missions, but the Siamese
seem as yet to be but little suited for this work. Mission-
aries hold that this is mainly due to southern Buddhism's
emphasis of religion as a personal matter — every man being
his own saviour, without any responsibility resting on any-
one else.
In Laos, statistics of 1908 report 3705 communicants.
This number shows that a movement in the direction of
Christianity seems to be gaining ground.
French Indo-China is unfortunately closed to Protestant
missionary influences. This is the more regrettable,
since among the Kamoos in French Laos a real mass
movement toward Christianity has commenced which,
tmder competent leadership, would promise large results.
Only one colporteur of the British and Foreign Bible
Society and two Swiss Brethren missionaries are permitted
by the French Colonial Government to work here.
BRITISH MALAYA
I. THE MALAY PENINSULA
The Malay Peninsula, comprising the Straits Settle-
ments with 572,249 inhabitants, the Federated Malay
States and Johore with 1,178,000 inhabitants, presents in
its population an unusual mixture of totally different
elements. There are, besides the rapidly increasing
immigrant population of Europeans and Americans, five
distinct classes living side by side : (i) the Malays, who
form the bulk, in most districts as many as three-fourths,
of the population, and are almost all Mohammedans. A
generation ago their Mohammedanism was merely super-
hcial, but it is daily becoming a more and more pervasive
and dominant faith. The greatly increased pilgrimage
to Mecca, brought about by cheap steamer rates and
better facilities, is consolidating Islam. The Hadji
or returned pilgrim is henceforth an ardent defender and
propagator of the faith, which gives him peculiar honour.
Missionary work amongst these people has as yet been
undertaken only sporadically. Missionary results are
very meagre. (2) The Chinese born in the country, the
so-called Baba, whose native tongue in Singapore is the
Malay, in Penang certain Chinese dialects. Here, too,
missionary work has been begun in earnest only in a few
places. In large schools, especially of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, thousands are receiving Christian in-
struction with noteworthy results. (3) The chief work —
apart from the pastoral care of the European and American
immigrants — is concentrated on the increasing numbers
of Chinese and Tamil immigrants, of whom many were
111
112 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
already baptized, or had received Christian impressions
at home. Unfortunately even amongst these Chinese
immigrants there are representatives of at least four
different dialects, the Swatow, the Hokkien, the Cantonese,
and the Hakka ; there are also congregations of Foo-chow
Christians. This diversity of races and languages makes
the work exceedingly difficult. (4) The aborigines, very
low in the scale of civilisation, and divided into many
tribes speaking different languages, who are now only
to be found in the jungles ; they have scarcely been
reached at all by missionary effort.
The occupation of the country is inadequate as regards
the number of missionaries. The American Methodist
Episcopal Church is most strongly represented, vv^ith nine
men missionaries, eight missionaries' wives, and nine
immarried women missionaries. The Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel has, besides the bishop,
a staff of five men missionaries, two schoolmasters,
and six women missionaries. They have recently
strengthened their work by separating this district as
a distinct diocese from the older and larger diocese of
Labuan and Sarawak. Besides these societies, the
English Presbyterians have a station at Singapore, and
the " Brethren " have also occupied a number of
places. There are also some American missionaries
working without official connection with a home
society. But there is scarcely any connection between
these different missionary agencies. Moreover, they are
all too weak to deal systematically and effectively with
the missionary tasks confronting them. All of them
have gathered congregations from among the Tamil and
Chinese immigrants, and look upon the care of these
as their chief work. Recently the Protestant Leipzig
Missionary Society has also founded a station for the
pastoral care of its ov/n converts and catechumens among
the immigrants. The work among these immigrants is,
however, rendered difficult by the fact that few of them
settle down permanently ; they either return sooner or
later to their own country, or change their place of resid-
BRITISH MALAYA 113
ence, so that the missionaries often lose sight of them.
The work of the Methodist Episcopal Church with its
2000 Christians, that of the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel with looo, and that of the English
Presbyterians and " Brethren " with a few hundreds,
represents but a small beginning, especially as scarcely
one-tenth of these are permanent residents in the country.
II. BRITISH NORTH-WEST BORNEO
In British Borneo, the Sultanate Brunei, Sarawak, and
Labuan, with a population of 551,000, three societies are
at work, namely, the English Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel, the American Methodist Episcopal Mission
Board, and the German Basel Society. For the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel only six men and six
women missionaries are working in the British part of
Borneo under the Bishop of Labuan, and these have
also to minister to the white population ; the Methodist
Mission has occupied a station in Sarawak ; the Basel
Society employs but one European missionary, and one
ordained Chinese pastor for the shepherding of the
Chinese Christians, immigrants from the Kwantung
province. As we have to do here with a territory of the
size of England, Scotland, and Wales, with an interior
to a large extent impassable, and with a diversified
population, it will be seen that but a start in missionary
work has been made.
COM. I. — 8
THE DUTCH EAST INDIES
The Dutch East Indies comprise the extensive stretch
of islands from the Malay Peninsula to New Guinea and
the Australian continent, except British North-West
Borneo and Portuguese North Timor ; and they have
a population of more than forty-three millions, of whom
563,000 are Chinese immigrants and their descendants, and
about 80,000 Europeans, including the garrisons. Nearly
30,000,000 of this population are concentrated on the
island of Java, which is one of the most densely populated
regions not only of Asia, but of the whole world.
I. THE MISSIONARY PROBLEMS
The missionary problem in this Archipelago is of a
threefold nature.
I. To offer the Gospel to the Mohammedans, who
form the large part — about thirty-five millions — of
the population. Here Islam is advancing rapidly and
persistently absorbing step by step the existing remnants
of heathenism. It should be stated that Islam penetrated
to the Malay Archipelago at an early period, occupying
Sumatra about the year 1200, and forming small settle-
ments in Java about 1400. But at the time of the
Portuguese conquest the extent of its influence was incon-
siderable. To-day it has almost undisputed possession
of the principal island, Java ; also of the island of Sumatra,
with the exception of a broad strip running across the
middle of the island, where the Bataks dwell ; and is
largely represented on the remaining islands right
up to Dutch New Guinea — at any rate in the coast
114
THE DUTCH EAST INDIES 116
districts. The Mohammedan propaganda is carried on
here with much energy, thoroughness, and even fanaticism.
The intercourse between Java and Mecca is extremely
active ; thousands of Javanese proceed annually on a
pilgrimage to Mecca, and no less than 20,000 Arabs
carry on an effective and profitable propaganda on these
islands as teachers of Islam. One can trace its course
an Sumatra, the Celebes, Borneo, and other islands,
where it has been occupying one district after another
like an ever- advancing wave. In spite of all this,
Mohammedans are more approachable here than elsewhere,
women are not secluded and are easily accessible, and
the fruits of missions among the followers of Islam are
Qot inconsiderable.
2. It is doubly important that the work of evangelisa-
tion should be carried on among the animistic population
not yet laid hold of by Islam. Of these aborigines, only
some eight or nine millions are left in the whole Archipelago,
mostly inland tribes difficult of access — Islam having
occupied almost everywhere the easily accessible coast
districts. It is these tribes, which stand very low in the
5cale of civilisation, are in part notorious cannibals, and
lang but loosely together, that are most open to the
jospel. As early as the seventeenth and eighteenth
:enturies the missionary activities of the Dutch East
[ndian Com.pany had notable results among these tribes,
especially on Ambon. In the nineteenth century the
Mifurs in Minahassa and the Battaks on Sumatra after a
jrief resistance responded to the Gospel with remarkable
•eadiness, and an abundant harvest has been the result,
riie same process is now going on among the Alifurs of
Halmahera and the Toradjaes of Central Celebes (Posso
District). Others again, like the Dayaks on Borneo,
md the Papuans in Dutch New Guinea, have proved
naccessible to the Gospel for more than half a century,
)ut recently the Papuans have been manifesting ready
■espouse.
3. From the beginning of the last century the Chinese
lave been the object of missionary attention. It is true
116 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
that they constitute everywhere, even in Java, where
most of them are located, an insignificant minority of the
population ; but in the first decades, when China itself
was a closed door, the hope was entertained of reaching
the Chinese more easily in their immigration centres,
Batavia being, besides Malacca and Singapore, the chief
point of entrance. And even now, though China itself
is open to the missionary enterprise, the Chinese in these
regions (on Java especially) claim special attention,
since for a long time they have proved more accessible
than the native Mohammedan population. As a result
of the awakening of the East, and the rise of Chinese
patriotism and of a semi-political Neo-Confucianism, the
former responsiveness of these Chinese is now changing
into an attitude of greater reserve toward Christianity.
II. THE MISSIONARY FORCES AND THEIR WORK
The missionary forces available for the Dutch Archi-
pelago may be considered under three heads —
I. The Established Church (Protestantsche Kerk).
The Government has undertaken the pastoral care of the
native groups which exist as the result of missionary
enterprise in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
These consist of 4850 members in Java, a separate body
of 2469 in Kota Raja, in the north of Sumatra, 78,974
members in Ambon and the Moluccas, and 18,617 in
Timor and the adjacent islands, making a total of 104,910.
In the seventies the Netherlands Missionary Society,
owing to the lack of funds, was compelled to turn over
its important Minahassa Mission (North Celebes) with
178,771 members to the State Church, continuing, how-
ever, its valuable educational work. The State, therefore,
supervises 283,681 native Christians. These are cared
for by twenty-seven assistant pastors (hulp-predikers)
and also by the pastors of the European congregations
(forty-one in number) of the Established Church, who
have also the care of the native congregations in places
where there are no assistant pastors, and who at times
THE DUTCH EAST INDIES 117
carry on quite extensive missionary work. In addition,
there are 60,178 Protestant Christians on Sangi and
Talaut Islands, partly descendants of Christians of the
seventeenth century, partly converts of the last century.
These are not officially cared for by the Government,
but a large annual grant (£'2650) is made, which defrays
three-quarters of the cost of their spiritual oversight.
They are shepherded by eleven missionaries, including
one nurse and one educational man. The State does not , , ..
interfere with matters of administration. *'" '^s
2. The Rhenish Mission carries on operations among
the Battaks of Sumatra, on the island of Nias (situated
along the western coast of Sumatra) and its adjoining
islands, and in the larger part of Dutch Borneo. In
these regions three well-staffed missions are maintained,
comprising seventy-two main stations, with ninety-three
missionaries, eighty-three missionaries' wives, two medical
and eleven women missionaries ; a total force, including
wives, of 189, with 102,429 Christian adherents, of whom ^
47,729 are communicants. Promising as these statistics
are, the missionaries workmg in these fields point out '■'■^^■
that they are far from adequately manned. On Sumatra a
keen contest is going on between Islam and Christianity —
a contest for the group of Battak tribes numbering 500,000
souls — which makes heavy demands upon the strength
of those engaged in it. The Rhenish Society counts
some 90,000 members and 8408 catechumens, and occupies
the central districts, from which the work is systematically
extended in every direction. The Mohammedans, whose •^/■«
adherents number 125,000, have laid hold of nearly all
the districts surrounding the Battak lands. On the
island of Nias operations have been mainly confined
to the middle, forming a broad strip from the east to the
west coast, and should now be extended both toward
the north and toward the thickly populated south of
the island. The Methodists occupy one station in
Dutch Borneo at Pontianak.
3. This extensive archipelago is primarily the field of
work for the Dutch missionary societies. If we except
118 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the German " Neukirchen " Mission, with fourteen mis-
sionaries working in the north-central part of Java, the
Salvation Army (mainly in Central Java), and the
Methodist Episcopal Mission, with four missionaries (one
in Batavia, one in East Sumatra, and two in Borneo),
none but Dutch missionary societies are at work here, and
these have no other mission fields, with the exception of the
small Calioub Mission in lower Egypt and a hospital
in Amoy. This missionary work carried on by the
Netherlands, with its population of 5,800,000, of whom
about three and one-half millions are Protestant, is
administered through five large and thi-ee smaller societies
and several committees, organised for special purposes in
connection with missionary work, a number of which
are more or less organically connected with one or more
of the principal societies. The total missionary contribu-
tions from the Netherlands amount to about ;^5o,ooo, of
which the Netherlands Missionary Society receives ;^io,5oo,
the Utrecht Association ;^9000, the Reformed Churches
^8500, and the Netherlands Missionary Association ;^58oo.
The largest society employs twenty- seven missionaries
and occupies sixteen principal stations.
There are in Java in all fifty-eight missionaries,
exclusive of wives, 20,000 Christians and twenty-eight
principal mission stations.^
On all the other islands, apart from the work of the
Established Church and of the Rhenish Mission, there are
forty-three missionaries, forty mission stations, and
11,000 Christians. While this occupation is quite inade-
quate both for carrying on a strong evangelistic move-
ment in Mohammedan Java and for meeting the demands
of the other heathen islands, the steady increase in the
missionary staff during recent years should be noted. In
1900 there were 60 Dutch missionaries ; in 1903, 61 ; and
in 1910 the number had increased to over 100.
1 These numbers do not include those deahng with the Estab-
lished Church, which in Java has 48 50 native Christians, twenty-live
pastors, who also, and chiefly, serve the Europeans, and one assistant
pastor. Nor do they include the fourteen " Neukirchen " mission-
aries, with eleven principal stations.
THE DUTCH EAST INDIES 119
The Netherlands Missionary Society carries on mission-
ary work : (i) On Java — in the " Residentien " Madium, '
Kediri, and part of Surabaja and Pasuruan, having some
five milHon inhabitants — with a total force of twelve
members (of whom live serve hospital and educational
work), occupying six stations and ministering to 11,500
Christians. Here is found one of the finest mission posts
of the whole Archipelago. (2) On North-Central Celebes
with five missionaries. On this island there is in the
Posso District just now a very marked response to the
Gospel. (3) In Dali, East Sumatra, with four mission-
aries. The prospects of the work here, which is only a
few years old, are very hopeful.
Among some six and a half million Sundanese inhabiting
the four " Residentien " of Western Java, Bantam,
Batavia, Preanger, and Cheribon, the work is carried on
almost exclusively by the Netherlands Missionary Associa-
tion with a staff of thirteen missionaries, occupying ten
mission stations. This band has to shepherd congrega-
tions numbering 2314 souls, conduct a seminary, and
attend to other duties.
The Reformed Church considers as her field the three
very thickly peopled " Residentien " of Banyumas,
Kedoo, and Jokjakarta, besides the important town of
Solo in the Soorakarta Protectorate, with an aggregate
of 5,100,000 inhabitants. The workers here consist of
five ordained missionaries, four teachers, three medical
missionaries, and four nurses, a total of sixteen foreign
missionaries, of whom eleven serve the hospitals and high
school. This is a marked advance over the year igoo,
when there were but four missionaries. In addition to
its work in Java the Reformed Church has a mission in
Sumba, with four ordained missionaries and seven teachers.
The Utrecht Association occupies Halmahera, South
Buru, and North Dutch New Guinea, with a total popula-
tion of sixty to seventy thousand inhabitants. On these
very promising fields the work is carried on by thirteen
missionaries, who, besides the demands of the present and
rare opportunities, have to minister to some SsooChristians.
120 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
A happy tendency towards union now characterises
Dutch missionary circles, which has already led to the
forming of the Sangi and Talaut Committee by three of
the Societies, to the union of the Netherlands Missionary
Society and the Utrecht Association, and recently to the
appointment of a missionary consul in Batavia by all the
missionary societies for the safeguarding of their common
interests. The Netherlands Missionary Society and the
Utrecht Association have together established a training
institute for missionaries, which is being used by five
societies. Also in other ways a co-operation between the
various societies can be noted.
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
The Philippine Islands were hermetically closed to Pro-
testant influence until, in the Spanish-American War of
i8g8, the Archipelago was occupied by the Americans,
and, after the Treaty of Paris, was formally handed over
to them by Spain. The extensive group of more than
2500 large and small islands, which is about as large
as Great Britain and Ireland, and which has a population
of 7,635,426, had been a Roman Catholic province since
the year 1564. According to their own statistics (Krose,
Katholische Missionsstatistik) 6,860,042 of the inhabitants
belong to the Roman Catholic Church.
I. THE NON-CHRISTIAN FIELD
The estimated non-Christian population of the Philip-
pine Archipelago, including the non-Christian tribes, the
Chinese, and the Mohammedan people, is 702,740. These
non-Christian populations inhabit chiefly the island of
Luzon and the Moro Province, and consist of the following
groups : —
I. Igorots. — These people are known under a variety of
tribal names. They are a primitive Malayan race living
in the mountainous interior of Northern Luzon. They
number not less than 215,000. Their belief is animistic.
They have no places of worship. They are superstitious
and conservative, living in smaU communities for the
most part, although here and there a large town is found.
They are a cheerful people and show considerable intel-
lectual capacity. The parents offer no opposition to
their children accepting Christianity, but the adults in
121
122 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
most places are difficult to reach. A variety of dialects
are spoken. Every culture area has its own peculiarities
of custom and language which are tenaciously observed.
There is considerable rivalry and animosity between
different sections, which finds expression in head-hunting.
There are several centres of importance, now unoccupied
by any Christian force, where the opportunity for evan-
gelisation is ripe.
2. The Chinese.— These number about 55,000 and are
found in the principal cities and towns of the islands,
chiefly in the capital, Manila, where they form a com-
munity by themselves. For the most part they are from
Amoy.
3. The Moros. — According to the last census (1903),
these number 277,547. They inhabit Mindanao, Basilan,
Sulu Archipelago, the Tawi-Tawi group, and all the small
islands in the extreme south of the Philippines. The
Moros are Mohammedans of a fanatical and ignorant
type. They were at one time the pirates of the Philippine
Archipelago and terrorised the whole region. If at any
time the restraining hand of American sovereignty were
lifted, they would be ready to revert to their former
habits. Intolerant of Christianity, they are in sectional
revolt in one place or another almost without intermission.
The influence of Islam is extending among the pagan
tribes.
4. The Pagan Tribes of the Moro Province. — The in-
habitants of Mindanao have hitherto been vassals of the
Moros. They number about 90,000, and have various
names and dialects. They are of Malayan stock. They
live in small communities, which makes it difficult to
reach them from a common centre. Their belief, as far.
as they have any, is animistic still, but they are likely
to become Moslem unless Christianity preoccupies the
ground. They are mild mannered and inoffensive. The
Bagobos seem to have some characteristics different from
the other tribes. The custom of offering human sacrifice
has been continued by them up to the present time.
5. Various Minor Tribes. — Among these should be
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 123
mentioned the Negritos (23,511), who are scattered about
the Archipelago in the mountains. They are dying out,
or else are being absorbed by the civilised peoples. The
Mangyans (7269) of Mindoro can best be reached in
connection with work among the civilised Filipinos of
the island. Attention should also be given to the
Tagbanuas (4696) of Palawan and the Bukidnons (56,189),
a primitive Visayan people who retreated into the moun-
tains before civilisation. They too can best be reached
through work done among the civilised folk of the country
in which they live.
II. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE
In addition to what the Roman Catholics are doing in
this department of missionary enterprise, which thus far
has been very little, no Christian work of any sort is being
attempted among these non-Christians except by the
missions of the Protestant Episcopal and the Congrega-
tional Churches. The former has stations at three centres
in the Igorot country, and the latter, one in the Moro
Province. The combined force is as follows : seven
foreign clergymen, two medical missionaries, two nurses,
and four teachers. There are no native ordained workers,
but there are two native catechists and two teachers.
Three boys' schools and three girls' schools are conducted,
and two medical dispensaries are in operation. In
addition, the Protestant Episcopal Church has one foreign
missionary and one native worker among the Chinese of
Manila.
III. POINTS TO BE EMPHASISED
Medical missions stand first in order of importance in
this field. Educational work must have a chief place
in the work among the young people of these primitive
tribes, while industrial training is needed among the
sluggish races which inhabit the Philippine Islands.
Any direct effort toward evangelising the Mohammedan
f
124 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Moros would be attended with great difficulty. Medical
missionaries could do more toward turning them to
Christianity than any other agency. Christian philan-
thropies cannot be started too soon among the adherents
of Islam.
These non- Christians are the most neglected and the
weakest people in the Philippine Islands. What is called
" civilisation " is rapidly advancing among them. It is
impossible to shut them out from the material con-
comitants of progress. The vices of western life are
already contaminating these chUdren of nature, and
unless powerful forces for good come in without delay to
counteract the evil and to invigorate their spiritual and
moral being, their fate will be worse than that of the
North American Indians.
They are ready and anxious for the Gospel. Many
places would welcome the Christian Church with open
arms, and several communities have asked for pastors,
who so far have not been furnished owing to lack of
missionaries. While formerly there was active opposition
to that form of Christianity which prevailed, now in
some sections there is as ardent desire for the knowledge
of Christian truth as an untutored people are capable
of showing. The present favourable opportunity of
making a full conquest of the pagan tribes is rapidly
slipping away.
AUSTRALASIA AND OCEANIA
With the survey of Australasia, from the missionary
point of view, it is convenient also to combine that of
the island groups of the Pacific Ocean. The latter form
an extensive field, stretching from Papua north-eastward
to the Hawaiian Islands, and eastward to the Marquesas
group, a distance in each direction of over 4000 miles of
sea. Historically, and geographically also, distance not-
withstanding, it is difficult to separate them.
The early missions, from the days when the London
Missionary Society first entered the field in 1799 with its
mission to Tahiti, played an important part in the mission-
ary history of the nineteenth century. Cook's epoch-
making discoveries had already created a strong interest
in the South Seas, and the early struggles and surprising
successes of the pioneers of the Gospel not only called
forth a succession of remarkable missionary heroes, but
helped in no small degree to foster the missionary spirit 1
oTtheCliurch, and to surround with dignity anxTTomahcel
the whole cause of foreign missions. The gradual trans-'
ference of the base of operations of some of the missionary
societies to Australia and New Zealand, and the develop-
ment of interest in other fields, have to some extent with-
drawn these missions from public gaze in Europe and
America, but they still contribute nobly to the records of
the triumphs of the Gospel, and provide valuable material
for the study of the science of missions.
Since the days when the London Missionary Society
entered the South Seas, and the Church Missionary Society
established its mission among the Maoris of New Zealand,
and the American Board occupied the Hawaiian Islands,
126
126 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the aspect of the missionary position has changed con-
siderably.
I. AUSTRALASIA
The colonisation of Australia, New Zealand, and
Tasmania created a large European population which is
now estimated to exceed five millions. The responsi-
bility for the evangelisation of the decreasing native
tribes devolved naturally in process of time upon the
Christian Church of the new population, though its own
spiritual needs were only met with difficulty.
In Australia it is estimated that the aboriginal popula-
tion numbers about 80,000. The evangehsation of these
peoples has been greatly neglected in the past, but the
burden of responsibility for their spiritual welfare is
being taken up by the various Churches. The Moravian
Mission continues its work among them at three stations
(Mapoon, Weipa, and Aurukun) in Queensland in co-
operation with the Presbyterian Church of Australia
and Tasmania, which. pro vides^the necessary funds. The
Church of England has also done a comprehensive work
in Queensland, particularly at Yarrabah (near Cairns) and
at Mitchell River on the Gulf of Carpentaria, and the
Church Missionary Association of Victoria recently
commenced a mission on the Roper River in the northern
territory of South Australia for the purpose of reaching
the many thousands of aborigines found there. The
Presbyterian Church of Victoria has just begun a new
and important mission on the north-west coast of West
Australia. In New South Wales, Victoria, and Queens-
land there are large settlements of Chinese, numbering
roughly 26,000. A further 2500 in South Australia raises
the total to 28,500. These also are coming increasingly
under the purview of the different Christian communions
as objects of their regular^ evangelistic operations.
Missions are maintained 5y several denominations among
tlie Chinese in Victoria. There are about 2000 Japanese
in Queensland, and a fluctuating population of Poly-
nesians, natives of India, and other non-Christians,
AUSTRALASIA AND OCEANIA 127
constantly changing and correspondingly difficult of
approach.
In New Zealand the evangelisation of the Maoris,
numbering about 49,000, Ti^ jiot" yet been completed.
A large number have embraced Christianity and are
associated with the New Zealand churches, but there are
still some sections, notably the Hauhaus, who, more
from remembrance of old political wrongs than from real^
antagonism to Christianity, still keep aloof.
II. THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
The religious problems of the Hawaiian Islands are
rapidly approximating to those of a settled_Christianj»^
country with a large immigrant non-Christian population.
Originally a mission field of the American Board, it can
now be said that nearly all the Hawaiian natives are
Christians. But their numbers are not increasing, and
they are now completely outnumbered by the Japanese
and Chinese population. In igoo there were 26,000 of
the latter and 61,000 of the former, as against 30,000
native Hawaiians. More recently the Japanese have
further increased, and in addition a large number of
Koreans have settled in the islands. The tide of immigra-
tion is being checked, but there is still need of strenuous
missionary work on its present lines among these immi-
grant classes.
It would be impossible to ojnit a reference to the
missionary spirit of the Hawaiian Church, as evidenced
not only by the completeness and rapidity of the spread
of Christianity within the Hawaiian Islands, but also by
the missionaries whom God sentforth from among them"
to be the evangelists of other islands in the Pacific.
III. OCEANIA
Australasia and Oceania are being increasingly linked
together in commercial intercourse, and the bond between
them is being further strengthened through the establish-
128 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
ment in Australia and New Zealand of the headquarters
of many of the missions to the islands.
I. Societies. — The work of the London Missionary
Society in Oceania is being increasingly supported by the
Congregational Churches of Australasia. Its present sphere
of operations in the South Pacific includes the Cook Islands,
the Samoan group, Niue or Savage Island, two of the
three Loyalty Islands, the Tokelau and Ellice groups, the
Southern Islands of the Gilbert group, and various small
islets. The work is carried on by a European staff of
fourteen men and four unmarried women. The native
Christian community numbers upwards of 17,000 in full
communion. There are 248 ordained pastors and 537
other preachers. The Society has, in addition, a mission
in Papua, stretching along the v/hole South Coast of
British New Guinea from the extreme east to Daru on
the western side of the Gulf. There are fourteen
European missionaries in charge of as many stations,
about 90 South Sea Island trained assistants, and 60
New Guineans. The membership of the Church is about
4500, and a vigorous effort is being made to reach the
wUd tribes in the deltas of the great rivers and in the
interior of the country. The total church membership
of the Society's missions in Oceania is estimated at about
20,000, with 50,000 native adherents.
The Wesleyan Missions are now entirely under the
direction of the Methodist IMissionary Society of Aus-
tralasia. There are five districts : Samoa, Fiji, New
Britain, Papua, and the Solomon Islands. There are
nearly 2000 churches, 31 ordained and 6 lay missionaries,
and about 100 native ministers. In addition there are
1200 teachers and nearly 4000 local preachers. The
church membership is about 47,800, and the schools pro-
vide education for 30,000 scholars. The Melanesian
Mission of the Anglican Church has its headquarters at
Norfolk Island, and supports 22 clergy and over 600
teachers. In the New Hebrides a united Mission, in
which the Presbyterians of Canada and of Scotland co-
operate with five Presbyterian organisations in Austral-
AUSTRALASIA AND OCEANIA 129
asia, carries on a very successful work. Twenty-three
ordained missionaries are located in the group, and ha.ve
already gathered into the Christian Church more than a
fourth of the ninety thousand natives. The American
Board has missions in the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall
Islands, the Caroline Islands, and the Ladrones. The
Australian Board of Missions (Anglican) supports a mission
in New Guinea. There are German missions in German
New Guinea and the Bismarck Islands.
2. Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia. — The islands
are divided according to the usual nomenclature, into
the three groups : Melanesia (including New Guinea),
Polynesia, and Micronesia. It is estimated that the
native population exceeds 1,600,000. Papua (British
New Guinea) has about 500,000, Dutch New Guinea (a
very rough estimate) 200,000, and German New Guinea
with the Bismarck Islands about 300,000, while the re-
maining Melanesian Islands have about 200,000. In
Micronesia the population is stated at 95,000, and in
Polynesia, including the Fiji Archipelago, there are
approximately 300,000.
Polynesia, the earliest centre of large Protestant
missionary enterprise in this field, has been Christianised
with remarkable success. In almost every group a strong
native Church has been established, imbued with an
ardent missionary spirit. In Micronesia, where the
American Board, aided by Hawaiian evangelists, were the
pioneers, Christianity has gained a strong and influential
following, some 17,500 Christians having been gathered
in from an aggregate of 95,000 inhabitants. In both these
areas the work of evangelisation has followed a uniform
experience. The initial difficulties of approach and the
natural suspicions of the inhabitants having been over-
come, the surrender to the Gospel has been singularly
complete and enthusiastic. Whole islands have accepted
Christianity en masse, and the native Church has developed
a high standard of Christian life and Church organisation.
There have been, and still are, occasional relapses and
days of difficulty ; but the main problem in many islands
COM. I. — 9
im CARRYING THE GOSPEL
is passing from the stage of evangelism to the period in
many respects more difficult, of Church organisation and
provision for the future.
The early association of the native population with the
peoples of European origin was unhappily marred by the
wanton outrages inflicted upon the natives by irresponsible
traders. The effectof such acts was not easily rernoved,
but apparently the native mind learned in time to^_^dis-
tinguish between the widely differing^charjicters and
designs of the missionaries and the traders. Still, gene-
rally speaking, the intercourse with Western civilisation
was comparatively slight, in that it was occasional rather
than persistent. The small proportion of resident
Europeans to the native population has left the latter
more free to develop upon healthy and natural lines,
without the restraints and tendencies which association
with Europeans are apt to produce.
The experience of Melanesian missions, and notably
those of New Guinea, has not been so fortunate. Great
results have been achieved, but at great cost of labour and
life. Indeed, of the South Sea Islands generally, it may
be said that their evangelisation has contributed a long
list to the roll of martyrs ; but the sacrifice has borne
rich fruits, and the question of their complete evangelisa-
^ tion is largely one_of_tiniei^.pjatience,,ajid_p.er§isiOTC^L^_
3, The Effects of Insulation. — From one point of view
there has been some advantage to missions from the
peculiar insulation of the tribes inhabiting not only
different groups, but often parts of the same islands. It
has been possible to approach them in detail, and to deal
with each tribe apart from the rest. The main obstacle
has been always the initial difficulty of access. From the
side of religion there has been little opposition. The
presentation of a faith so obviously superior to their own
/ animistic systems, would of itself have easily won the
allegiance of the people without the added influence of the
prestige of the missionary advocates. But before the
days of missions and settled governments, practically
the whole of Oceania was divided among innumerable
AUSTRALASIA AND OCEANIA 131
small tribes, hostile to one another, and keeping abso-
lutely apart. The law of revenge, tribal rather than
individual, reigned supreme. Many of the earlier attacks
upon missionaries are to be traced purely to this spirit
of exacting from the first white man who visited the
islands a reparation for some injiir^infiijcted^ bj'.a trad.^^
or other voyager. i^^-^ ^^-t y^-vr-^-^-^t^
As a natural result of this insulation, the linguistic "-'^
difficulties are enormous. However much the languages
in the various groups may be traced to common sources,
the entire absence of literature, and the inevitable changes
which each generation produces under such conditions,
have developed a diversity of speech almost without
parallel in any other part of the world. Small islands
close to one another have marked variations of usage
both of vocabulary and grammar. In New Guinea,
often every few miles, separated by some physical barrier
of mountain or stream, are tribes which have never met
except in warfare, and whose speech has little in common.
In the New Hebrides group are no fewer than twenty-five
languages, thirteen of which have been reduced to writing.
It is difficult to estimate the total number of distinct
languages spoken in Oceania, but already, for the use of
missions, versions of the Scriptures have been prepared
in over sixty. This is merely a fraction of what will be
required if every dialect is to be furnished with at least
a Gospel, but fortunately there are already indications
that the stronger languages which have been endowed
with the advantage of a literature are absorbing many of
the neighbouring dialects or helping to unify the varieties
pf one linguistic group.
Still, from the point of view of missionary progress, this
linguistic confusion is a serious obstacle. In many of the
rmssiohs the training of native ..pastors, drawn from
different islands, is increasingly being conducted in^
English, along with the language of the traming,.atatiQns. ^^^^^
\Vlthout, however, the aid of some native"orthe particular
island which it is desired to approach, any attempt to
reach the people must be a matter of extreme difficulty.
132 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Fortunately the native Church is producing an efficient
staff of pastors and teachers full of enthusiasm and de-
votion. Nothing is more encouraging than this develop-
ment, joined as it is to a strong spirit of self-support.
In many of the islands the need to labour is not great,
but the missionaries have wisely encouraged agricultural
pursuits and fostered habits of industry and thrift.
4. The Present Situation. — There is still a vast work to
be accomplished in both the large and the innumerable
small islands. The record of islands in which practically
the whole population is Christian might suggest that little
remains to be done. On the contrary, the peculiar
insulation to which reference has been made, has created
frequent instances of adjacent islands, one Christian,
peaceful and well ordered, and the other, separated by
only a few miles, still in a savage and heathen condition.
Even on the same island, at least in Melanesia, there are
to be found a district entirely under Christian influence,
and at the distance of only a few miles a district where
heathenism and even cannibalism is still practised.
"There is abundant scope for missionary work at every
stage of its development.
The recent expansion of European and American
administration and influence, promoting a greater inter-
course with neighbouring islands as well as with the outer
world, is having an effect upon the social and moral
condition of the people, which is both beneficial and
otherwise. Nowhere have the vices which have so
invariably accompanied the progress of civilisation
proved more sadly deleterious to the physical well-being
and the moral tone of the people. It has been an untold
blessing to the inha,bitants of these islands that the
missionary has so far been the pioneer of civilisation. It
is eminently desirable that this condMoii should continue ;
but there is no time now for postponement.
Again the breaking down of the isolation of the past
is making more difficult in other ways the task of the
missionary. A mixed population is _always harder to ^'
evangelise than'"a homogeneous people. This inter-
AUSTRALASIA AND OCEANIA 133
mingling is proceeding apace. There are already 35,000
Indian coolies in Fiji, and the proportion between them
and the native Fijian population is increasing in favour
of the former. This new influx, which in other forms
can be seen elsewhere in this wide field, presents a double
problem. In the first place, there is a new class to
whom the Gospel must be given. In the case of Fiji the
Australasian Methodist Missionary Society has supplied
the necessary forces, establishing not only a station for
work among these Hindu coolies, but also a mission in
the part of South India from which they mostly come, with
a view to raising up native workers who will be evangelists
to their own people in Fiji.
But there is a second danger in this new tide of immigra-
tion and intercourse. Hitherto Christianity has had no
serious rival, but the presence of such large masses of
Hindus is bringing an assimilating influence to bear upon
the Fijian themselves." The establishment of European
governments, protectorates, or spheres of influence is also
modifying the conditions of missionary work. It is
encouraging to note that for the most part the Governors
of the islands have borne testimony to the value of the
missions and regarded their efforts with sympathy and
appreciation. The establishment of the French Pro-
tectorate of East Polynesia and New Caledonia has not,
however, been favourable to the cause of missions.
Almost all the islands had been occupied by Protestant
missions before the French occupation, and the Society
Islands were akeady largely Christianised. Under French
rule, Protestant missions find themselves thwarted and
hindered. Fortunately the Paris Missionary Society has
come to the rescue in a truly generous way, and saved
existing Churches from utter destruction. The im-
portance and urgency of this matter may be gauged from
the fact that the aggregate number of natives under
French rule in the South Seas is about 80,000.
The future of Oceania is impossible to forecast. The
physical conditions are varied, but, generally speaking,
these islands of the seas are singularly attractive. They
134 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
are capable of immense developments, and already there
are signs that the old order is changing. It is imperative
that the native populations should be completely won for
Christ before the great testing time of advancing com-
merce arrives. These peoples have given abundant proof
of high spiritual power and supreme devotion to their
J ^ Lord. They present a new aspect of the great_raciai
V problem, for^ewjiative races have entered upon the un-
conscious conflict with civilised peoples under more
favourable conditions. It remains for the Church of
Christ to ensure that those conditions should not only
continue but improve.
INDIA
It is difficult to determine the relative importance of
mission fields, since every nation or group of nations can
make so strong a claim that the final estimate depends
largely on the force with which the facts are presented or
on personal inclinations. Three points stand out clearly
with reference to India, however, which give it a unique
place : —
1. Looking at the religious history of mankind as a
whole, only two regions have been able to produce those
religious systems which now include three-quarters of the
human race : — the Levant through the numerically small
Semitic race in its Jewish and Arab branches, and the
great peninsula of India through the Indian race. Apart
from the Jewish people whose political history has been
exceedingly chequered, there is no great nation or group
of nations except India, the whole life and being of which
have been dominated by religious interests. There are
religious rules for every step of life from birth to death.__
The Brahmans have from time immemorial exerted an
enormous influence both social and religious over the
people of India. The history of India, political, literary,
architectural, and social, is the history of its religious life.
If this " people of religion " (Religionsvolk) is won for
Christ one of the main strongholds of non-Christian forces
will be conquered.
2. The Indian civilisation is Aryan in its type and in
its dominating influences. The great races of northern
India belong to the same stock as the Anglo-Saxon and
the German, but were separated from them at least 4000
years ago, and have developed along widely different
135
^f
136 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
lines. The Western branch by a gracious Providence
has long been under the influence of the Gospel. The
Eastern branch, just as talented and promising as the
Western, has been left alone and has developed an
intricate, seemingly chaotic, system of religious belief.
Now the more fortunate Western branch comes back to
its counterpart and brings to it the blessings which have
made it rich, and in coming near it feels the relationship
of common deep-rooted tendencies and under-currents.
3. This vast empire is the greatest trust given by God
to any Christian nation. Clearly the deepest reason for
this gracious responsibility is that the Kingdom of Christ
may be established in India. It is Britain's greatest
responsibility ; and is likewise the great opportunity for
the Christian Churches of all parts of the world.
I. THE FIELD TO BE EVANGELISED
In reviewing the mission field of India it is not the
intention to enlarge on those general features of Indian
missions which have so often been discussed. We merely
give a rapid sketch of them to serve as a basis for what
follows. Missionary work in India is largely influenced
by the peculiar characteristics of the country from the
point of view of ethnography, social conditions, and
language. Each of these presents a wide range
of variety in a field which is not one country, but
a continent as large as Europe, excluding Russia. Its
peoples differ in race, in language, in creed, in custom,
; injtemperament as widely as the various nations of
\Europe. Its population embraces one-fifth of the human
race. Under such conditions exact generalisation is
almost impossible, and all that can be attempted is an
outline of the more prominent features and a brief
summary of those points of difference which call for
special attention as factors in the problem of evan-
gelisation.
I. Ethnography. — The 294,361,056 inhabitants of India
are divided — with the exception of the remnants of
INDIA 137
aboriginal tribes and of invading races — into three great
families which present distinct missionary problems.
The north is occupied, generally speaking, by the Indo-
Aryan races, the bearers of India's religion and civilisa-
tion ; they are the representatives of the intellectual life
of the country ; they have produced the sacred Sanskrit
literature, the epics of the Ramayana and Mahabharata,
and the pantheistic philosophy of Brahmanism. They
are everywhere on a comparatively high level of civilisa-
tion, are firmly consolidated by the system of caste and
by the spiritual rule of the Brahmans, and ofier, as a rule,
determined resistance to Christianity.
The south of India is occupied by a second great and
widely distributed family, the peoples of Dravido-Munda
origin, forming as to language, though not ethnographic-
ally, two distinct groups. In this great family the decisive
feature is the degree to which they have assimilated Indo-
Aryan civilisation. Many peoples have become entirely
Aryan in language and thought, and have therewith ceased
to be Dravidian, Other great and intellectually important
races, such as the Tamil, the Telugu, and the Malayalam,
have, whilst maintaining their racial individuality and
their language, appropriated Aryan civilisation to a great
extent, but have in part developed it along independent
lines. Other tribes or sections of the population have
remained on a low level of civilisation, some, for example
the mountain and forest tribes, having withdrawn into
the jungles of the mountainous districts, whilst others
have become incorporated with the social system as
members of the lowest castes or as forming the great mass
of outcastes. The general tendency of these undeveloped
Dravidian peoples is in the direction of progress. Wher-
ever they come into contact with higher forms of civilisa-
tion, the desire to advance awakes within them. The
history of missions in India has been profoundly influenced
by these vague aspirations after progress on the part of
the Dravido-Munda races, and they have been the cause
of its most important and far-reachmg developments.
The third great family is that of the Tibeto-Burmese
138 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
races, a great variety of tribes and peoples of the most
varied degrees of civilisation, occupying Burma, Assam,
and a large portion of Bengal. The most advanced
of these are the ^urmese, who for many centuries
have, in matters of civilisation, been under the influence
- of the cognate races of China. A great many tribes are,
however, on a low level of civilisation, and since coming
into contact with European culture have shown an
astonishing inclination toward Christianity, so that great
hopes are entertained of them from a missionary point of
view. Such are the Karens, and the Garo, Khasi, and
Naga tribes.
2. Social Conditions. — As regards social position the
masses in India may again be roughly divided into three
groups. There are the loosely organised clans of the hill
and forest tribes, whose primitive social conditions form no
great obstacle to the advance of Christianity, and place
no particular difficulties in the way of those who embrace
the Christian religion. On the other hand there are the
sixty-four and one-third millions of Mohammedans, to
whose religion the system of caste is, properly speaking,
in direct opposition, and who have in a large measure
resisted its influences. The opposition of Indian
Mohammedanism to Christianity proceeds, however, not
from the conditions of social life but from their religion.
In the third place we have the two hundred million
Hindus, more or less held together by the social
order — caste. It permeates the entire life of the Indo-
Aryan races, and of the Dravidian peoples in so far as they
have assimilated the culture of these races, and it holds
these peoples in a grip of iron. Caste is universally
Z acknowledged to be the strongest bulwark of Hinduism,
and the greatest obstacle to the spread of Christianity. It
is an undeniable fact that the steady advance of Western
y^ civilisation on every hand is slowly but surely undermining
^ ' the caste system ; the process is slow but the results are
■^ plain and immistakable. Missionary work can, however,
as yet reckon but little with it, and that only in the large
towns and great centres of traffic.
INDIA 139
3. Languages^. — The 147 languages of India are a serious
difficulty in missionary work. There are, it is true,
large populations with a uniform language, in which
even differences of dialect are not very strongly marked.
For instance, nearly forty-five millions speak Bengali,
more than twenty millions Telugu, eighteen millions
Marathi, seventeen millions Punjabi, sixteen millions
Tamil, ten millions Kanarese, while Hindi in one or
other of its forms is the language of over eighty millions
more. There are missions, accordingly, which have to
deal chiefly with but one language and one race of people.
Still the multiplicity of languages is a difficulty which
has to be faced in many districts. Almost ever5rvvhere
in the towns and great centres of traffic there is a veritable
confusion of tongues. Even some societies which work
like the Basel Mission and the Gossner Mission,
in comparatively circumscribed areas, have to deal
with from four to six different languages. English
is indispensable for all missionaries and must, therefore,
be learned by those to whom it is not familiar. Then
there are districts such as Burma, the hill countries
of Assam, and the broad belt of the Himalayan
valleys, where the diversity of languages is even greater.
Since the climatic conditions of most parts of India
are exceedingly trying for a newcomer, and since the
young missionary, through pressure of work, is often
obliged very early to take his place among the workers*
it is not surprising that many are satisfied with an^--
imperfect knowledge of the language, and that the j ^^ AmA-
knowledge of religions, folklore, and the^likg_„ig much / "^^^
neglected. ~ ***
Again and again in recent missionary literature the
complaint is made that the knowledge of languages
among the average missionaries is decreasing. And
yet mission work in India TF confronted by important
tasks demanding a thorough mastery of them. They are
in the main of a twofold nature. On the one hand, there
is the necessity for providing in the many languages of India
an elenientary Christian literature, which shall help to
140 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
lay the foundation of the new civilisation of the people
or tribe. On the other hand, a most important task in the
present condition of missionary work in India is that of
creating for the native churches and by means of the lan-
guages of the educated classes a Christian literature which
shall suffice for the educational and devotional needs -^^
of church and school and also for apologetic purposes
in the propagation of the Gospel. Leading mer are
convinced that this fundamental task, so essential to the
healthy development of the native Church, cannot be
accomplished unless in each language area at least one
missionary with adequate native help devotes himself
entirely to this work.
II. MOVEMENTS AFFECTING THE PRESENT MISSIONARY
""' SITUATION
We must now concentrate our attention on three move-
ments which characterise the })resent situation, namely,
the influx of Western intellectual culture, nationalism,
J/ and the revival of the Indian religions. These movements
_J{ii I oftenjnteract upon each other. They are all of long stand-
ing, but to-day they present new aspects and have new
significance. To these may be added as a fourth move-
ment, though of limited extent, 5'et of distinct promise,
the Christian revivals which have happily been multi-
plying in recent years.
I. Influx of IV cistern Culture. — The main channels
through which Western culture has found its way into the
Indian people areT'(i) lousiness ; (2) railways, the post, the
telegraph, the steamship ; (3) the work of the British
/ , Government, especially its action in the matter of justice,
in philanthropy, and its desire to treat all men as equals ;
(4) education ; (5) missions.
These five causes are effective in bringing Western
science, method, and thought to bear on the Indian
people, but they vary greatly in efficiency. They are
here arranged in ascending order so as to show what
seems to be their relative force. The common people
INDIA 141
alljDver the land feel the effect of the first three, although
in many outlying districts the influence must be slight.
The fourth produces very powerful effects indeed, but
only upon those who actually pass through the schools
and colleges. We must also distinguish very carefully
between vernacular education and English education ;
for the latter produces immeasurably greater results
than the former. The last is by far the most efficient
instrument of them all, since it influences men through
their moral and spiritual faculties ; but the action of
this cause has very definite limits. First of all, we
must recognise that Christian influence has made itself
very distinctly felt wherever English education has '^^
gone : the class who have received an English education
iT a conductor of Christian influence everywhere, whether
voluntarfly or involuntarily. Apart from this class,
Christian influence is very sporadic. Among the common
people it is felt only where the missionary has gone.
There are vast tracts of the country as yet absolutely
untouched.
Apart from nationalism and the various religious
revivals, perhaps the most noteworthy by-product of
Western culture in India at present is a widespread
social ferment. Each of the leading classes of Hindus, ^
an3~many of the lower orders also, have begun to hold
gatherings in which social problems are discussed and
many reforms ^proposed. The same influence is visible
among Mohammedans, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis. £^"
It may be~ added that though there are accompaniments
of the influx of civilisation which just at present seem to
act as impediments to missionary work, in a general
way it must be stated that the introduction of Western
culture into India has created an atmosphere favourable
to the reception of Christianity. Not only have the
crude and erroneous conceptions lying at the base of
Hinduism been paralysed by the light of Western science, ^
but Christian ideas and ideals are percolating through the
whole religious thinking of India. Hence Bishop Lefroy
pf Lahore is undoubtedly right in saying : " Of this we
142 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
may be certain, that_iin]ess at the present time, while
almost everything is in solution, and the direction largely
undetermined, Christianity really enters in as a potent
factor, able in greater or less degree to exercise that
commanding influence which is hers by right, if only she
is given a chance ; and if the new life of India is allowed
to set and take sliape and form, independently of her
influence, then for generations to come the door to
advance will be fast-barred to a degree of which we
have hitherto had no experience whatever."
2. Nationalism. — The movement in India attracting
most^aHenliorrat the present moment is Nationalism. This
new spirit has its natural basis inxa^cjal solidarity and in love
of country. It has been quickened into consciousness
largely through Western education and development,
and has received a fresh impetus from the reports of
Japanese progress and success. Though excellent if
rightly guided, it may become a great danger to the peace
of the country, if directed into wrong channels, as when it
is exploited by anarchist_leaders for their own ends. All
kinds of valual^le developments are expected from the
strengthening of this national spirit. The^jiational
spirit recognises the necessity of removing all divisive
;^ influences7'anttt!nhsting all i^ifting aii J unifying forces.
Therefore it is condemning and discarding caste, which
has been the principal obstacle to Christian teaching and
Christian profession. Mr. Sherwood Eddy points out
that "The national movement in India, while in its first
effect strongly anti-Christian and anti-foreign, and a
hindrance to the progress of the Gospel, will in tinie tend
to abolish caste, hasten reform, and prepare India for a
more rapid .response to_ Christianity. Already it is
effecting a new dream of national unity, a new passion for
h political liberty, a new enthusiasm for popular education,
a new desire for social and religious reform, and a new
antagonism to caste and the enthralling abuses of Hindu-
ism." Therefore warning voices are raised against a
harsh attitude toward the movement. The Rev. W. E. S.
Holland well urges that "It cannot but demand our
INDIA 14^
synipathy. We must franklA^share the IijiiiaiL's. ambition
for his own people. In God's hands it may be our
mightiest leverage to lift India to Jesus Christ."
At present, however, we hear from all parts of
India that hand in hand v/ith the anti-British current
of feeling goes a strong anti- foreign prejudice which -■■
has grown perceptibly during the past five years.
Much of this feeling is very vague and unreasoning,^^/
and yet, until circumstances so change as^'To fender "
racial _preju.dice less intense, the missionary will find
hmiself and his message at a disadvantage. The
political spirit has engendered a deep suspiciorL_of
jthe^WfiSt, and this suspicion has deepened into a race
antagonism, and this racial antagonism is closely connected
with everything that comes from the West. It is natural
that our faith, which has come to them from the West,
should be a point of^tack. It is now the conviction of
many that everything Oriental, including their faith,
must be conserved at all hazards, and everything Occi- ^ ^'■
dental, including Christianity, must be withstood to the '^"'
uttermost. It is said that both the Ar5^as and the Moslems
in the Punjab are using every effort to prevent parents
from sending their children to mission schools, or allowing
Christian W'omen to enter their homes. Again, there has
been a similar boycott of Christian literature, even of
school-books. Booksellers will refuse to handle anj'thing
known to be specially Christian. Members of school-book
committees will decline to approve a text-book if it bears
any suggestion of Christian thought ; a single sentence
has been sufficient to condemn even a geography.
In the liveliest colours Pandita Ramabai describes the
opposition to missionary work which arises out of the
Swadeshi movement in varying strength in different
parts of India : " The Swadeshi Movement . . . has
for one of its objects the opposition of the Christian
religion as a foreign religion. The agents of the Swadeshi
movement are printing a vast amount of literature
which is greatly opposing Christianity and corru^pting the
thoughts of the people. They are spreaHing tKis literature
144 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
all over the country. They are preventing their children
from going to Christian schools, and teaching them to
hate Christianity and the Christians with all their heart.
They are trying to keep themselves and their children
away from Christianity and Christians by putting such
people out of their caste as would work for, or with,
Christians. This last course is adopted to a greater
extent in villages than in the cities. The agents of the
Swadeshi movement employ lecturers to go over the
c^ntitry — especially to the places of pilgrimage — to create
misunderstanding about and hatred toward Christians.
The organisation of opposition bands to the Christian
preaching bands is the order amongst them. What is
worst of all is that their agents are trying to corrupt
thoughts and work out ill-feeling towards Christianity
among women and children and low-caste people."
The fact and influence of this national spirit must be
kept in mind in shaping our plans and hopes for a
speedy evangelisation of India. In spite of strong
sympathy with the deeper tendencies of the movement,
we must recognise that at least for the present it will
be a distinctly retarding movement. Perhaps it
will influence in some degree the method of
preaching. It will be wise in presenting the claims of
Christianity to India to make prominent the superhuman
and world-embracing character of the Gospel.
3. Revival of Indian Religions. — Closely allied with this
national movement are the older, but at the present day
more or less conspicuous, endeavours to revive or adapt
the Indian religions. Thus in the Hindu sphere we have
the Bharat Dharma Mahamandal and Mrs. Besant's
propaganda, the Arya Samaj, Neo-Sikhism, and number-
less minor societies ; in Mohammedanism, the New
^ Islam of Sir Sayyid Ahmad and his Anglo-Orieirtal
College at Aligarh, containing, though strongly tinged
with rationalism, many Christian elements ; the fantastic
charlatanism of the ambitious adventurer (the late)
Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian ; and the various forms of
Babism imported from Persia and similar movements
INDIA 145
amongst Buddhists and Zoroastrians. Three points are
characteristic of these movements : —
(i) The Rev. Herbert Anderson writes : " There is no
greater danger to the success of our enterprise tlian the /
desire of the leaders of non-Christian faiths to assimilate , -
Christian truth and claim Christ for their own systems-^ / ?^'*s«=«
an addition that can Be ihade without radically altering -'i.
the creed or conduct of those who accept Him. There -^ i.y,
was a Parliament of Religions held in Calcutta a short
time ago at which papers were read by exponents of
many religious systems. Mohammedan, Hindu, and
Buddhist exponents all claimed for their respective
systems that the fatherhood of God and the brother-
hood of men are the fundamental doctrines of their
faiths." 1 '"" "~
(2) Moreover, we find that these Hindus are quick to
learn our Christian methods of religious propagandism. /^■-^
They are meeting our methods by imitating them in
the interests of their own faith. They send out street
preachers who give themselves largely to antagonising
Christianity rather than to promulgating their own
doctrines. They publish tracts ; they have their Tract
Society ; they have their Young Men's Hindu Associa-''
tion and various other organisations patterned after
CHristian activities. In their tracts to-day Ingersoll
and Bradlaugh are extensively quoted against our faith,
and the most bitter and absurd arguments against
Christianity which these infidels ever indulged have
been translated into the vernaculars, and have been
disseminated even in the villages of India. The syste-
matic^introduction of European infidel literature and its
distribution in the public free libraries, and also the
spreading of the results of destructive criticism in tracts
and pamphlets especially amongst the students, all
work in the same direction.
^ For remarkable evidences of this partial assimilation of Chris-
tian truth in movements apparently openly hostile to Christianity,
see the essay of the Rev. J. Frohnmeyer, lie. theol., in Warneck's
Allgem. Miss. Zeitschr., 1909, 397 ff.
COM. I. — 10
146 CAERYING THE GOSPEL
(3) Theosophy is another hindrance to the ac-
ceptance of the Christian religion ; by its subtle in-
geniiity and plausible casuistry it tends to produce in
the mind of the educated Indian the belief that he has
no need of Christianity. It may be added that the
European press in India itself partly endorses this wrong
position.
Missionary leaders will watch these religious movements
with interest. They are significant far beyond their
present and temporary strength. They show that the
old stagnation in Indian life is past, that the leaven is
at work, and that strong rehgious forces are awakening
in the hidden life of Hinduism.
4. X^iristian_Revivah. — Down to within a few years
there were in India but few remarkable manifestations
of the outpouring of God's Spirit. Mass movements
towards Christianity took place, but they were not
generally accompanied by marked demonstrations of
spiritual emotion. Seldom were seen strong evidences
of deep penitence or ecstatic joy. A missionary, writing
as late as the year 1895, says, " We have had no Pente-
costal outpouring where individuals exhibited profound
conviction of sin and strong love for the Saviour, or where
the hearers seemed to be swayed hither and thither by
the irresistible impulse of a Superior Presence." But
recently there have been marked spiritual developments.
In the winter of 1895-96 a revival of extraordinary power
began in the American United Presbyterian Mission of
the Punjab, which has from that day to this continued
with unabated force. Manifesting itself in various
stations and forms, it reveals its best-known and most
striking characteristics every year in what is called the
" Sialkot Convention," where large numbers of mis-
sionaries, Indian ministers, lay workers, and church
members from missions near and far (some from a dis-
tance of 1200 to 1500 miles) meet together for prayer,
instruction, exhortation, and praise, and where scenes
occur similar to those which appeared in Jerusalem on
the Day of Pentecost.
IISTDIA 147
In Assam and especially in the Khasi Hills among
the adherents of the Welsh Calvinistic Mission a condition
in some respects still more remarkable has also existed
for several years. So, too, Jubbulpore in the Central
Provinces has become a centre of widespread spiritual
effort and life. Further south, near Poona, in the Mukti
School of Pandita Ramabai, a spiritual movement having
extraordinary features of its own began several years ago
and has continued to bear fruit since.
These outpourings of divine grace have had a pow^erful
influence on almost every class_ of ^Christians in the
neighbourhood, elevating them to a higher plane of
religious life, leading them to a more diligent use of the
means of grace, increasing the practice of tithe-giving,
developing pastoral self-support, stimulating work among
non-Christians, and resulting in large additions to the
Church. It is expected that such movements will
multiply and spread to other parts of India.
III. THE CLASSES OF PEOPLE AND THEIR CULTIVATION
From the point of view of missionary work the people
of India fall into five great distinct groups.
I. The Fifty Millions of the Depressed Classes. — The
first group is formed by the fifty millions of " depressed
classes," outcastes and those of the lowest castes, some
of whom as regards culture are scarcely on a higher
level than the pagan tribes of Central Africa. Their
mental faculties have been blunted by long centuries
of oppression and servile bondage, and they live in
aj^ject terror of evil spirits.
On the other hand it is coming to be more and more
clearly recognised that the changed conditions in politics,
commerce, and means of communication have the effect
of rendering the lower classes, and especially the
outcastes, more susceptible to the influence, not
only of Christianity, but also and in a still larger
measure of Hinduism, even in tribes and classes
of the population which have hitherto held aloof.
148 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Among the Namasudras, a tribe in Eastern Bengal,
2,000,000 strong, 'a social ferment is in progress, and
Brahmos, Mohammedans, and Christians are all hoping
for large accessions from the movement. It is said that
the 800,000 low castes in the mission field of the American
Presbyterian Church in the Punjab arejikely to become
^ Mohammedans if not Christianised- The Santals also
J are in a state of transition. They have kept themselves
aloof from others even to the extent of moving whenever
their freedom was threatened. But there is no doubt
that they are being transformed by extraneous influences,
both religious and social, especially from the side of the
Hindus. Their former honesty and integrity, truthful-
?/^/ ness, and uprightness, are not what they were ; they are
adopting the grotesque and worst sides of the Hindu
Hfe and religion, because they come most in contact
with the lowest strata. The lower form of Hinduism,
with the worship of Durga, Kah, and Siva and its
^ sensuality and dishonesty, is distinctly creeping in.
Perhaps the feature in the evangelistic situation, as
it affects the depressed classes, which is at present
attracting greatest attention, is the great^mass move-
ments, which are either just beginning or are in full
progress in several mission fields. Their significance
is most strongly emphasised by the Bishop of Madras :
"The main fact which ought, I think, to determine
the use we make of the forces at our disposal in India
at the present day is that there are 50,000,000 people
in India who are quite ready to receive the Gospel
message, to put themselves under Christian teaching
and discipline, and to be baptized ; and that, if a prompt,
aggressive, and adequate campaign were carried on
among them, it would be quite possible to gather some-
thing hke 30,000,000 of them into the Christian Church
during the next fifty years, to raise them morally, spiritu-
ally, and socially from the state of degradation and
servitude in which Hinduism has kept them for the last
two thousand years, and to furnish to the whole people of
India, especially to the educated classes, a most powerful
INDIA 149
witness for the truth and power of the Christian faith. . . .
At the same time, there is a real danger lest, if the
Christian Church neglects this splendid opportunity now,
it should pass away. . . . An aggressive and adequate
campaign for the conversion and elevation of the pariahs
throughout India would involve also an aggressive
campaign among the whole of the village population
of India, amounting to ninety per cent, of the population
of all India. The pariahs live in every single village of
India, and the experience we have had of a large mass
movement among the pariahs in the Telugu country
shows that it produces a striking effect upon the Sudras,
and renders them far more accessible than before to
the preaching of the Gospel. . . . My points are that
the conversion of some thirty million of the depressed
classes of India to Christianity within the next fifty
years is a perfectly practicable ..ideal to aim, at ; that
the moral and social elevation of this large section of the
population will be a marvellous witness to the truth
of Christianity ; that the conversion of the pariahs
will have a striking influence for good upon the whole
of the village population ; and that this great work ought
to have the foremost place in the campaign of the Chris-
tian Church in India during the next half-century."
Practically the whole of this vast mass of humanity
is Dravidian in origin. Religiously, they fall into two
groups, according as they have been Hinduised or not.
Even those, however, who are recognised as Hindus
have been so httle altered by this connection that they
may be taken along with their Animist brethren. They
are really one group ; for they are equal in their
ignorance, their poverty, their degradation, and their
superstition with those ; the same general type of
mission is suitable for them all, whether they be classed
as Animist or Hindu, and whatever part of India they
may^belong to. The type of work which has hitherto
been successful among them is the evangelisation and -Co
education which have produced the mass movements
referred to above.
150 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The chief question as jT'et undecided amongst
missJonaries with regard to this kind of work is, whether
these men and women should be baptized as soon as
they are wilhng to receive baptism, or whether there
should be delay until they give proof of Christian faith
2. The One Hundred and Sixty Millions of Hindus. —
Hinduism, represents an immensely varied and multi-
form system, ranging from the philosophy of the Vedas
to the grotesque and uncouth superstition of the Puranas
and Tantras and the devil-worship of the lowest castes,
the outcastes, and the hill tribes, and presents ever new
problems of missionary work.
Between the extremes — the educated and the depressed
— lie the two great classes v/hich represent the backbone
and the strength of the Indian nation, viz. the uneducated
Brahma ns, and, closely allied with them, the millions
of middle-class folk of all. castes engaged in agriculture
and business. The Brahmans feel that their position is
at stake, and are often very hostile, but the common
people are a simple folk, and need not be hard to win.
Vast multitudes, however, have never come within
effective reach of the Gospel at all. The rigid Brahmans,
on the other hand, in many districts withdraw themselves
from every outside influence, whether missionary or
European.
These classes of the artisan and merchant castes
coffespond to the middle classes of Europe. Whereas,
however, in Europe these classes stand for progress,
liberalism, and modern thought, in India they are still
rigidly conservative, and the guardians of tradition.
It is something quite new that in the Telugu district
in connection with the movement among the Malas
several thousand Sudras have embraced Christianity,
and that thus a kind of mass movement has begun
amongst the Sudras.
The solid mass of Hindu people here grouped together
belong to many various races. They are also broken
up into thousands of groups by the caste system, and
are further redistributed into innumerable parties
INDIA 151
according to the sect or subdivision of Hinduism which
they follow. All these varieties of social and religious
grouping are significant for missionary work, and must
be taken into consideration in the formation of detailed
plans ; yet for a survey such as is attempted in this j.
Report these many millions of Indians are to be taken
as one homogeneous mass. They have three large
common features which mark them off from all other
peoples in the whole world, and which have to be seriously
faced in all attempts at their evangelisation —
(i) They are the product of Hindu family life, Hindu
customs and caste ; and their training has produced a
deeply marked and conservative character. (2) They are
steeped in Hindu thought, culture, and belief. (3) They
are proud of their old ancestry, religion, and civilisa-
tion, and fortified in their dense ignorance and their
satisfaction with things as they are.
But, as already indicated, solvent. influences are at ^l^j
work among them. Very noticeable and encouraging is
the change which is steadily taking place in the gradual
loosening of the restraints and conventions which have
hitherto kept the women of India secluded, illiterate,
and, as a home influence, intensely conservative. This
emancipation has awakened in them a thirst for learning.
According to the census of igoi only one out of 144
Indian women is able to read ; and even this rate is
not reached in large districts of India ; in Assam
it falls to three per thousand, in the Central Indian
Agency, Berar, the Punjab, and Haidarabad to still less.
Protestant missions have the honour of having been
pioneers in the education of girls, and for a long time they
alone shared the field with the Government. The change
referred to seems to be in progress in many circles of the
population. There is a strong desire among the men for
the education of their daughters, sisters, and wives, and
the women are generally ready to be taught. This has
led the Government to take initial steps to meet this
demand for education in the homes of the upper classes on
a non-religious basis by sending out zenana teachers. The
152 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
women of India of the various castes are awakening to a
sense of need and opportunity. They are seeking educa-
tion for themselves, and are meeting in conventions for
improvement and self-assertion. Here a wide field is
being opened up for the work of women missionaries, and it
is not surprising that from all the mission fields the call
comes for a great increase in the number of lower and
higher grade schools for girls.
3. The Sixty Millions of Mohammedans. — Mohammedans
regard Christianity with contempt as an antiquated
religion which AUah has set aside and replaced by Islam.
Moreover, they are proud of the tradition of their splendid
day of supremacy in India and their claim to the dominion •
of the world. The remarkable, though widely diverging,
relofin fnovements in Indian Mohammedanism are
evidences that beneath the seemingly lifeless surface of
Islam there are j^et processes of~fennent"ation going on. .?'
It is the general impression that missions in India have
hitherto sadly neglected the Mohammedans. In Southern
India a few missionaries only have been specially set apart
for this work. In Northern India special work amongst
them is carried on only in the Punjab, in the Frontier
Provinces, and in the United Provinces, where alone
(except in Eastern Bengal) they are found in great
numbers. In this large district, missions to the Moham-
medans have the advantage that the majority of
the missionaries live in the towns, where Urdu, the
language of the educated Indian Moslems, is spoken.
The Mohammedans of India are of many races, Aryan,
Dravidian, Turanian, Mongol ; but within Mohammedan-
ism race _is_a_small, matter when balanced against faith. ^
TKere is one large fact, however, which has to be taken
into consideration in dealing with Indian Mohammedanism,
and that is this, that in certain parts of the country,
especially in Bengal, Hinduism has exerted such a
powerful influence that Mohammedans observe caste
and also worship many of the local Hindu idols. In
dealing with this type of ignorant Mussalman missionary
methods may well be modified.
INDIA 153
4. The Ten Millions of Buddhists. — These people are
practically all inhabitants of Burma, and are all Mongo-
loid. They fall into two groups so distinctly as to
require to be separately dealt with, the pure Burmans,
and other tribes less cultured and less under the
domination of Buddhism.
5. The One Million of English-Speaking People. — We
turn now to that class of Hindus and Mohammedans,
about one million in number (mainly Hindus), who,
by means of the Anglo-Indian system of education,
have acquired a more or less complete degree of Western
culture, and read English literature and newspapers.
They are_ of the greatest importance to the future of
India, forming as they do the connecting link between the
British rulers and the mass of the Indian population, whilst
from their ranks are recruited the great army of officials
and the leaders of modern popular thought and action.
Owing to their knowledge of the Enghsh language, and
their access to the entire world of Engli?]i Uterature,
they are comparatively easj^ to apprgach. There is an
increasing number of earnest seekers after truth amongst
them. The ambitions and place-hunting propensities of
this class, however, are in many cases fatal to higher
aspirations, and they are_exposed to the full force of the
reactionary movements within Hinduism. The import-
ance of work among this class is repeatedly urged by
missionaries ; but it must be entrusted to thoroughly
qualified^ men, who are in close touch with all the culture
ofjLhfi^Vest and of the East.aJso. The urgent necessity is
felt of studying more deeply and systematically than
hitherto the highest forms of Hindu philosophy, with
a view to apologetic work and to overcoming them from
within by the spfrit and truth of Christianity. Many
educated Indians still comfort themselves with the idea
that the Christian missionaries have never yet under-
stood or done justice to Hindu Pantheism At least a
few prominent missionaries should devote themselves
entirely to this apologetic work of overcoming the
Pantheism of India.
154 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
This most interesting class of men is drawn from all
the races, all the reUgions, and all the provinces of India ;
yet their English education has exercised such a com-
manding influence over their minds that for missionary
purposes they have to be considered, at first, as homo-
geneous. It has been found possible for the same men
to deal with educated men of different religions. The
differences between the three great rehgions of India —
Hinduism, Mohammedanism, and Buddhism — are so
great that it would certainly be an advantage if there
could be specialists for each ; but the men are so scattered
throughout India, and the races are so mixed in each
of the larger centres, that it is scarcely possible to form
any plan whereby the inner groups might be separately
dealt with, except in the presidency towns. Far more
important for the purposes of this survey is the dis-
tinction between those who are students in missionary
colleges or high schools, and all the rest, students and
ex-students.
Students in missionary institutions receive Scripture
'l^ teaching regularly. They thus stand out from all other
^ , sections of the educated classes as being under direct
1? I h Christian influence from day to day. The two groups
will be considered separately.
(i) Students in Missionary Institutions. — Perhaps 5000
out of the 25,000 students in colleges in India, and
100,000 out of the 700,000 boys in high schools, are
in missionary institutions. There are 37 mission colleges
and hundreds of mission high schools in India.
There are a few cities still left in India where there
ought to be mission colleges, and there are many openings
for high schools, but the present trend of opinion is in
favour of concentration rather than expansion. Many
mission colleges are still undermanned, and there is a
pitiable lack of hostel accommodation everywhere.
The following needs ought to be supplied at once : —
{a) More educational missionaries to fill up the teaching
staff.
(6) Funds for hostels.
INDIA 155
(c) One man for each college to do a minimum of
teaching and spend all the rest of his time in personal
work.
(2) All English-Speaking Indians, minus the Students
in Mission Colleges. — Tliis class falls into three groups :
(.?) Students in Government colleges ; (6) students in
native colleges; (c) educated men beyond the student stage.
Apparently the problem of how to bring the Gospel to ail
Indian students has not 3'et been fully solved. For a
long tim.e missions have devoted their chief attention to
bringing strong influence to bear upon the students in the
missionary colleges and schools. It would be difficult to
exaggerate the results of the work done by these pioneers
of higher education in India. Their influence can be
traced in districts far removed from the centres in which
these missionary colleges have been established. The
student who returns to his native village or occupies
an official position in some other district may not be an j
open or even secret disciple of Christ, but his attitude
tQ^A'ards Christianity has undergone a change, and many
a missionary has unexpectedly found the way made more
open for him through the influence of such a student.
The vast mass of students in the Government, Hindu,
and Mohammedan coheges are only beginning to
be touched through the founding of hostels, through
the work of the Young Men's Christian Association,
and through other means. In order to reach more
effectively this important section of the community.
Christian hostels should be established in connection with
every Government college, and earnest consideration
should be given to the best methods of drawing non-
Christian students to Christ.
There is not much need to emphasise the importance
of this class. Although in 1901 they numbered in all
only 740,000, yet one may say that the whole country
is in their hands ; for, apart from the influence of
Europeans, they control everything in Government, :
Education, Law, Medicine, the Press, and have a very
large share in the land and the business of the country. L
166 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
This large and most important class of students and
more advanced men is altogether untouched by the work
of the mission colleges, and comes, if possible, still less
under the influence of the vernacular missionary. As
yet these men have been reached mainly by two types of
work : —
(a) In many places one finds a missionary'-, sometimes
a man, sometimes a woman, engaged in vernacular
work, who gives an hour or two each week to work
among students and English-speaking men. Their work
has frequently borne fruit in sincere conversion.
There have been also a few missionaries who have been
set apart by their societies to give their whole time to
work among the educated classes. The Baptists have
a European in Dacca, and a Bengalee in Calcutta. The
Wesleyans and^ jhe Daiiish Lutherans have each a man
in Madras.
(b) The Young IMen's Christian Association has large
buildings in several centres in which a very varied work
is carried on by its secretaries among both students and
ex-students. Similar work, but not so varied, is carried
on in the associations in the small towTis and villages,
in associations in colleges, and in branches for boys.
Besides the local associations scattered over the country,
the Young Men's Christian Association has a national
union, and there are a group of secretaries engaged in
national work. Apart from the help they give to the
local associations, these secretaries hold special
\l evangelistic meetings, camps for Christian students,
and frequent conferences. They also produce literature
for Bible study and mission study.
There is one subsidiary method of great importance
which ought not to be passed over, the production of
Christian literature in English suited for the educated
classes. More attention is now being given to writing
than formerly, but it is very noteworthy that there is
no single man in the whole of India set apart for the
production of literature in English. Such a man is most
seriously required. Most earnestly is the creation of a
INDIA 167
special literature in English recommended, by which
the gulf between the old, perishing Hindu world and
the new Christian era may be bridged.
IV. THE OCCUPATION OF THE FIELD
The replies to the question as to the adequate or
inadequate occupation of the various fields take up
a considerable space ; but the impression remains that
the data given are insufficient for a comprehensive
treatment of the question^ o\ving to their incompleteness
and want of uniformityT'TTie Rev. H. Gulliford makes
a valuabre~suggestion in the preamble of his paper :
" The first thing that is necessary is to procure a large
scale map of the country (the 'Survey Map' of India, ^^ /-/
scale one mile to an inch, will do admirably) and to have
marked on it every town and village where there are
(i) a missionary, or the head station of a mission; (2)
an evangelist or preacher ; (3) a mission school ; (4)
an organised church ; (5) one or more families of
Christians, A radius of so many miles should be allotted
as the area which these persons and institutions can be
expected to influence and evangelise. . . . This informa-
tion can be secured only on the spot by a sub-commission
specially appointed." ^
The statement made by missionaries that an increase
of a certain number of missionaries, native agents, and
institutions is necessary, is of little use unless accompanied
by a view of the organisation of the mission in question.
Each separate mission should, after careful consideration
of the present needs and the contemplated extension of
the work, draw up a programme in which convincing
reasons are given for the desired increase. 2 A comparison ^^.''^
1 For the present the mobt rehable survey of the occupation of
the Indian field is contained in the German book by H. Gundert,
Ph.D., Evangelical Missions: their Countries, Peoples, and Work,
4th ed., Calw& Stuttgart, 1903, pp. 277-413.
2 Cf. Rev. N. Macnicol (United Free Church Mission, Poona).
Careful papers of this kind form a solid basis for the deliberations
of the missions in question.
158 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
of these estimates would show whether it was worth while
to add the resulting figures together. The Presbyterian
Church of America has published such an estimate for
all its mission fields. The Arcot Mission in South India
has done the same for its own field.
It may be mentioned, however, as indicating the great
need of India as a whole, that the Decennial Conference
held at Madras in 1902 adopted a resolution to the effect
that on the lowest computation of the requirements of
India the staff of missionaries should be increased four-
fold. Further, in going through the papers on the point
of missionary occupation the foremost impression made
upon one's mind is the depressing conviction that by far the
greater number of fields are completely undermanned.
There are indeed some parts in which so many missions are
planted that they overlap into each other's territories. But
this is not the rule. Even in a city like Calcutta, which
to all appearance is crowded with missionaries, there
are large classes of the population which are not even
touched by the present staff and with the present
methods of work. As for larger districts, we quote only
the statement of the Rev. H. Anderson with regard to
the English Baptist Mission, which is typical of many
Indian missions : " The foreign staff is altogether in-
adequate. A leading missionary, writing of Bengal, in
1902, said, ' There is not a single mission in any district
which is not absolutely undermanned, and the process
goes on every year of killing or invaliding missionaries on
account of overwork.' The area covered is altogether too
great for the staff employed. No plan or method appears
to have actuatecl our Mission in the choice of its fields of
labour, extending for 1500 miles from Simla to Berham-
pur in the Madras Presidency. It was the policy of the
founders of our Mission to occupy strategic centres, and
that, doubtless, has something to do with the present
sphere occupied. ... If there were other societies
prepared with men and money to go and occupy some of
these spheres, God-speed would be granted to them. . . .
It is better to have a glimmer than darkness, appears to
INDIA 159
have been the principle of occupation, and hence the area H*^^
of our present influence is altogether too vast for adequate
occupation. The problem of evangelisation has been made
subservient to other problems that success has created.
The gathering of churches in certain successful spheres has
led to questions of self-support and self-propagation being
raised, and the education problems of the Christian ^
communities have also arisen. It is one of the shibboleths
of the modern home Church official that the Indian
Church should support its own evangelistic agency, a
shibboleth quite acceptable to the missionary force on
the field with the addition of the corollary — where
there is an Indian Church strong enough to do it. But
look at some of the figures : . . . Chittagong, 1,500,000
people, 1500 Christians, two-thirds of whom are Catholics ;
Dinajpur, 1,500,000 people, 179 Christians; Khulna,
1,250,000 people, 1275 Christians. In vast spheres,
among millions, there is no Christian Church capable of
evangelising, and if we are to await its coming India
cannot be won to Christ."
The missionary literature of the last decade has thrown
a vivid light upon the fact that in India — quite apart
from those fields in which the present missionary staff
is insufficient for the accomplishment of the work begun
in them — there are vast districts which must be described
as unoccupied, or not effectively occupied.^
We must here content ourselves with the general state-
ment that large portions of the United Provinces, of
Eastern Bengal, Chota Nagpur, Southern Assam, the
1 " The Unoccupied Fields of India," by G. S. Eddy, Missionary
Review, April, 1905 ; The Unoccupied Fields in Central India,
pamphlet by Dr. J. Fraser Campbell ; Unoccupied Fields of
Protestant Missionary Effort in Bengal, pamphlet by the Rev. H.
Anderson ; The Unoccupied Fields in the United Provinces,
pamphlet by J. J. Lucas based on this pamphlet ; the Rev. W. F.
S. Holland. " Unoccupied Fields, United Provinces," C.M.S.
Intelligencer, 1906, 576 ; Chap. xii. of India and Missions, by V. S.
Azariah. Unoccupied Fields in Rajputand, by Rev. W. Bonnar.
Some of the correspondents discuss in detail the results of these
treatises {e.g. Miss E. A. Luce) and contribute valuable material
from other districts (e.^;. Rev, F. Ilaliu on Chota Kagpur).
160 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
hill forests of Burma, the Central Provinces and the
Central Indian Agency, and, above all, the Native States,
are absolutely undermanned. In many of the Native
States, mission work is carried on under great difficulties.
Two generations have passed away since the Mission
began work in some of these sections, yet scarcely one-
third of the population have had the Gospel made known
to them. Very much more has still to be done if millions
who have not even heard the Gospel are to be won for
Christ.
v. THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH TO INDIA
The Present Need. — The correspondents are nearly all
unanimous on three points : —
tJf I. The present occupation is totally inadequate. The
, , missionary societies which are already at work and have
" gained experience should expand their work to as great an
extent as can be accomplished with thoroughness.
2. Every method of the work should be carefully
tested as to its practical efficiency. An instrument
may be quite practical, but if used in the wrong place
or on the wrong occasion it fails of its purpose. Industrial
missions may be valuable in an organised Christian
congregation, partly to provide honest work for the con-
verts, partly to open up new branches of employment
for those who, in consequence of their baptism, have been
turned away by their employers, and also to provide a
means of livelihood other than teaching for the rising
generation of Christians. As a means of evangelisation,
or of gaining converts, industrial missions are superfluous
in India. Medical missions^ are without doubt of great
value"; everywhere they are understood as a practical
interpretation of the Gospel of love ; they are an invalu-
able agency wherever thiere Is deep-rooted suspicion or
malignant fanaticism to be overcome, as is almost every-
where the case in Mohammedan districts and especially
in North and North-West India. Medical work is an
inestimable ally in the difficult_zenana work, wherever
INDIA IGl
hospitals and nurses for women are not provided by the
Government or by other agencies. But where there
is an old-estabHshed and steadily developing Christian
Church, where suspicion of Christianity and its foreign
representatives has-been overcome, and medical aid
is otherwise available, medical work may be largely
dispensed with, at least as a means of carrying the Gospel
to the non-Christians. It is plain to every student
of Indian missions that there must be a great expansion
of the valuable work of the Bible Societies, and that there
must be much better provision for a Christian vernacular
literature.
3. Many correspondents very earnestly point to the
special function which the native Church has to perform
in the great work of evangelising the Indian continent.
It has been an almost universal complaint that missionary
activity has been but imperfectly developed among the
Christians of India. During the last decade there have
been signs of more active missionary interest. After
the Jaffna Students' Missionary Society, which carries
on a modest work at Tondi in the Madura district, the
Indian Missionary Society of Tinnevelly, organised in
1903, was the first important attempt at independent
work. The Tinnevelly Christians have a Gospel
Festival Day, when the Gospel is preached by numerous
voluntary workers in all the villages round ; besides
this they are, by means of the Church Missionary Society,
conducting work at Dornakal in the Nizam's Dominion
of Haidarabad with six Tamil and twenty Telugu workers,
and for this funds are contributed with increasing
readiness — last year (1909) nearly 10,000 Rs. In 1905 the
National Missionary Society was organised, with its fields
of labour in the Montgomery district of the Punjab,
and in four other parts of India. The Church of the
Irish Presbyterian Mission (the Presbytery of Kathiawar
and Gujarat) also began a small independent mission in
1908, and the churches of the Baptist Mission commenced
work in a hill district near Independent Tipperah ; those
of the Scottish Mission in Darjiling (Church of Scotland)
COM. I. — II
/ I
162 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
support several evangelists on the frontiers of Bhutan
and Nepal. Such independent or semi-independent
missionary endeavours of the native Churches have
recently multiphed on all sides. Many individual
Christians have also begun work on their own responsi-
bility, e.g. Pandita Ramabai, Soonderbai Powar, Mrs.
Sorabji and her daughter in and near Poona, the late
Rev. Mathura Nath Bose in Bengal, whose work is now
carried on by his sons and daughter.
The attempts of the Indian Churches at independent
missionary work are, of course, still in their infancy.
Some of the leaders of the national movement are looking
upon these efforts and their results as new factors to
be reckoned with and as one form of Swadeshi enter-
prise. Such efforts are the hope of the Indian Church
and of India. They are to be welcomed by foreign
workers in a spirit of sympathetic helpfulness, and
with the prayer that they may multiply and become a
mighty factor in the evangelisation of India.
There are those who consider the time specially oppor-
tune for an aggressive evangelistic advance aU along
the line. It is believed that a well-planned campaign,
having as its special aim the reaching of the educated
classes with the plain definite message of the Gospel,
would bear good fruit. It is generally admitted by
educated men throughout India, that the best moral
development is not being secured, and, indeed, cannot be
secured, under existing conditions. While many Indians
through racial pride or religious prejudice, or both,
are unwilling to admit that their need in this respect
can be met only by Christianity, there are undoubtedly
those who are broad and generous enough to acknowledge
that from Chri&tian sources alone can they expect fully
to obtain the help they require, the moral reinforcement
they need. In the enjoyment of their newly acquired
privileges and widened opportunities for self-government,
and reaching out, as they unquestionably are, after a
fuller and more symmetrical life, it is not unreasonable
to believe that they are in a mood which peculiarly in-
INDIA 163
vites that appeal to the deepest moral iiature of man which ^- -^y^.^^^
Christianity alone_can make.
At no time have Indian missions been fruitless, and
never has the situation been so rich in genuine encourage-
ment as it is to-day. During the past half-century the
advance of Christianity, even numerically, has been
steadfast and practically unchecked. Each decade has
shown at its close a Christian community more than
one-half as large again as at its beginning. And the
progress has been even greater intensively. While the
Christian community has multiplied tenfold during half
a century, the number of communicants has multiplied
twentyfold, the number of ordained Indian ministers
fortyfold, and the number of organised congregations,
local centres of Christian worship and effort, two hundred-
fold. Undoubtedly the obstacles to be overcome are
enormous. In this survey they have not been minimised.
But to the eye of faith they are not insurmountable.
Already there is evidence that they are weakening under
the influences of a new intellectual and moral atmosphere./^
which is the product mainly of Christianity. The results
which can be measured in figures are only a portion of
what the missionary enterprise has already achieved.
Far and wide in numberless ways it has disseminated
influences, awakened convictions, and kindled aspirations
which are preparing the way of the Kingdom of Christ
in India. The present hour is one of unprecedented
opportunity. It is correspondingly one of tremendous
responsibility for the Church of Christ. The crucial
question is, Will the Church rise to its great task in
India ? --
CEYLON
Although Ceylon is so near to India, and belongs geo-
graphically and ethnologically to that continent, the
island, from a political, social, and missionary point of view,
has developed along independent lines. A line drawn from
Negombo to the east coast would divide the population,
roughly, into two groups, the northern one comprising
Tamil Dravidians, the southern chiefly Singhalese Aryans,
for the south of the island has for the last 2500 years been
colonised and dominated socially and religiously by Aryans-;^
ffoin Northern India. The Tamil - speaking northern
part of the island bears the same religious impress as the
adjacent Southern India, except that here the system of
caste is perhaps more along social and industrial than
religious lines, as is the case in India.
The Singhalese south is Buddhist, and whilst Buddhism
there until about the year 1880 was inert and lifeless, it
has since then been largely resuscitated, chiefly in con-
nection with the agitation of the Theosophical Society,
" They endeavour to give a scientific explanation of
Buddhist teaching. They imitate Christian phraseology ;
for example, they speak of ' our Lord and Saviour
^' Buddha.' They observe Buddha's birthday. They
establish Buddhist Sunday Schools and Young Men's
Buddhist Associations. The movement is, more than of
old, hostile to Christianity, representing it as alien, and
Buddhism as national and patriotic. In the Tamil North
and East also there have been in recent years many
signs of Hindu revival and imitation of Christian mis-
sionary methods.
The population in the southern half, especially in the
CEYLON 165
Western and Central Provinces, presents an extraordinary
mixture. Side by side with the low country Singhalese
and the Kandians there are numbers of immigrant
Tamils ; besides these there are in the whole island
(according to the census of 1901) 246,118 Mohammedans
(nearly all Moormen and Malays), 6300 Europeans,
10,464 very mixed Roman Catholic descendants of
Portuguese immigrants, and 12,842 mixed Protestant
descendants of Dutch and English immigrants.
After the withdrawal in 1796 of the Dutch Colonial
Mission, which had gradually declined during the
eighteenth century, work was vigorously undertaken
from 1812 in rapid succession by the English Baptists,
the English Wesleyans, the American Congregationalists,
and the Church Missionary Society. To these was
added in 1840 the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel, and during the last twenty-five years the Salvation
Army (1883), the Heneratgoda Faith Mission (1891), and
the Friends (i8g6) have entered the field.
Unfortunately in some districts the different missions
are so close together that some overlapping is scarcely to
be avoided. In the Jaffna Peninsula, " for example,
amongst about 300,000 Tamils there, are, besides a
strong Roman Catholic Mission, the Wesleyan, American
Congregationalists, and the Church Missionary Society,
at work within a limited area, maintaining three colleges
and twelve chief stations in close proximity to one
another. While occasionally there has been slight
friction, still, as a rule, they work together very harmoni-
ously. For example, the missionaries and their families
meet together once a month for prayer and conference,
and two or three times a year the Tamil preachers and
their wives join with them and discuss matters of vital
importance to the work at large. In the local Bible and
Tract Societies each mission is represented. Good
feeling prevails also among the Tamil workers, and a
united front is presented to the Hindu community. A
movement is now on foot to establish a Union College,
changing the present three institutions into preparatory
J"^
166 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
schools. This united effort will still more impress upon
the Tamil community;^ the oneness of the followers of
Christ. " ~
Among the Tamils of the north and east, the missions
report approximately five thousand communicants and
nearly as many more adherents. There is little opposi-
tion to Christianity among the masses. The time is ripe
for a great spiritual awakening. In Colombo and its \
neighbourhood, owing to the revival of Buddhism, the i
outlook is not so bright.
We should not be blind to the fact that the results of
missionary work have been comparatively meagre.
The Government census reported in 1881, 60,000 ;
in 1891, 55,913 ; in 1907, 61,820 ; but in this number
are included the Europeans, the Eurasians, and the
Independent Catholics, so that at least 20,000 must
be subtracted. According to the missionary census the
number of Christians belonging to Protestant missions
was in 1881, 35,708 ; and in 1907, 32,892, according to
the last annual reports. This does not indicate the total
number of Christians in Ceylon, since the members of
parishes or congregations which are independent of the
missionary societies are not included. While the
statistics are incomplete and do not fairly represent the
strength of Christianity in the island, there is ground for
solicitude.
In view of this state of affairs Principal A. G. Eraser
recommends that the missionary societies should lay
greater stress on the work of Ceylonese agents, and should
considerably increase their number. " We need many
more native workers, and still more do we need to see
the quality improved. I would like to see a good many
more classes and ranks of native workers. We need
far more emphasis laid upon our training schools for
teachers." It is to be said that in connection with all
the missions there is an excellent Ceylonese pastorate
whose chief energies are devoted to shepherding the
flock ; but the burden of preaching to the heathen, as
well as the burden of pastoral work, should, to a far
CEYLON 167
greater extent than hitherto, be laid upon the shoulders
of the natives. It may be said that the native agency is
in some of the leading missions already out of proportion
to the number of Church members. In the Jaffna
Mission of the American Board, out of 2025 communicant
members, 409 are paid helpers ; in the Wesleyan Mission
in the same district, out of 1674 full members 441 are paid
helpers ; and in the far larger Southern Ceylon district
of this Society out of 3807, 426 are paid agents ; whilst
in the Ceylon Mission of the Church Missionary Society
out of 4294 communicant members 844 are paid agents,
but a large proportion of these are teachers who are paid
from money coming from local sources, such as Govern-
ment grants in aid of schools, tuition fees, and contribu-
tions from local churches.
The object of missions is to develop a native Church
which shall be self-supporting, self-governing, and self-
propagating. The Church in Ceylon has made remark-
able progress along the lines of self-support and self-
administration, but a truly missionary spirit is sorely
lacking in many of the congregations, especially in the
central and southern parts of the island. Large numbers
of the Church members are apathetic about the work of
reaching their non-Christian neighbours. The situation
is more hopeful in the Jaffna district in the north. Here
the Christians are becoming more aggressive in Christian
work. Home missionary societies, both in the North
and in the South, supported wholly by local contributions,
have been in existence for years, and within recent years
a missionary society has been formed, whose object is to
carry on work in the neighbouring continent. The great
need is for more consecrated native men and women
fiDed with the' Holy Spirit, who shall be able with Divine
help to arouse the unevangelised from their apathy and
to win them for the Lord Jesus Christ.
THE ASIATIC LEVANT
I. THE FIELD TO BE EVANGELISED
The territory which is dealt udth under the heading of
" The Asiatic Levant ' includes the following well-
recognised geographical divisions : Turkey in Asia
(including Syria and Palestine), Arabia, and Persia.
This Asiatic Levant shares with Egypt the distinction of
being the cradle of the earliest civilisation of the Western
World. A worthy literature, a knowledge of mathe-
matics and astronomy, the manufacture of delicate
fabrics, and the pursuit of arts, may be traced back to
two full millenniums and more before the Christian era
by a study of the civilisation which had its centre in the
broad plains of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. In spite
of ^tsL present political and geographical divisions, the
territory here considered possesses a unity which may
be recognised to-day, and which has had repeated illus-
trations in centuries past. The entire territory has ever
been vitally influenced, if not dominated, by the same
civilisation. Its several sections have commonly looked
to but one centre of political influence, whether this was
Babylon of the twentieth century B.C. or Constantinople
of the twentieth century a.d. Again and again, as under
the Assyrian Kingdom, under Alexander the Great and
under the Empire of the Saracens, its parts have been
welded together by force into one political organisation.
Though to-day this vast territory is no longer politically
one, it still preserves its unity by its religious solidarity,
for it lies under the sway of one dominant faith, and is
pre-eminently the stronghold of Christianity's most
difficult opponent — the faith of Islam.
108
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 169
The Country. — In contrast with the great p'ateau of
Central Asia, the Levant of Asia may be designated
broadly as the plateau of Western Asia, which stretches
westward from the lofty tablelands of Iran to the less
elevated plains of the Mediterranean. With greater
detail, several geographical divisions come into view.
Anatolia is "an elevated and fertile plateau enclosed by
historic mountain ranges." The country roughly de-
signated as Armenia is another plateau of limited extent.
The vast plains of Mesopotamia, watered by the Euphrates
and Tigris Rivers, constitute another clearly defined
division of the country. Syria and Palestine possess
historical individuahties which make further definition
unnecessary. The immense peninsula of Arabia, while
politically divided, may be regarded as a single natural
division, whose chief characteristic is its barren and desert
wastes, which, nevertheless, support a population of some
eight millions of people. Persia constitutes the last great
division of the territory under consideration. It has been
described as " a tableland dropping to the Caspian Sea
for nearly one-third of its northern frontier, and to the
Persian Gulf for its southern limit."
The combined area of the Levant of Asia is about
2,381,310 square miles — more than twice the entire area
of India.^
* See Statesman' s Year Book : —
Turkey in Asia :
Square Miles
Asia Minor
. 193.540
Armenia and Kurdistan' .
71.990
Mesopotamia
. 143.250
Sj-ria
. 114.530
Arabia .
170,300
693,610
British Territory :
Aden and Protectorate .
9,000
Bahrein .
276
9.276
Oman . . . . .
• •
82,000
Interior Arabia
• •
968,700
Persia .....
• •
628,000
Total f , , , , . 3,381,586
170 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Speaking generally, and excepting the malarial littoral
of the Red Sea and the swampy sections of Mesopotamia
and of the Caspian provinces, the climatic conditions
are sufficiently favourable not to constitute any serious
problem in the evangelisation of the Levant of Asia.
A most serious problem affecting missions in this
region grows'out of the inaccessibility of large sections,
the trying methods of travel in the greater portion of
the territory, and the consequent exclusion of Western
civilisation with all its material, intellectual, social, and
spiritual accompaniments. Turkey in Asia with its
693,610 square miles has but 2774 miles of railroad.
Persia with its 628,000 square miles opened its first railway
service in 1888 over the six miles between Teheran and
Shah Abdul-azim. Since that date no other railroads
have been built. Carriageable roads afford some relief,
but communication is necessarily difficult and tedious.
A railroad has been projected between Damascus and
Mecca, and has been built as far as Medina, but otherwise
Arabia is whoUy without railroads, and its caravan tracks
do not materially solve the problem of communication.
The People. — Two races, chiefly, inhabit and mingle in
the Levant of Asia : the Semitic and the Aryan. The
conflict of these two racial movements may explain much
of the history of this part of the world, for the Aryan and
the Semite represent widely differing types and tendencies
of both race and civilisation.
The extremely general description just made calls for
definition and even partial modification. While the
population of Arabia may be regarded as purely Semitic
and the ancient Persian stock as wholly Aryan, yet one
other very important and several other subordinate racial
elements require to be noted. The Osmanli-Turk of
to-day represents a great Mongolo-Tatar invasion which
brought some 9,000,000 people into the Levant, and it is
this race that holds the political reins of Western Asia.
The Kurds, whose warlike and independent character-
istics are so well known, number some 2,000,000, and are
probably of Aryan descent. The Circassians of the
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 171
Caucasus, and the Druses and Nusairiyeh of Syria, and the
Yezidees of Mesopotamia, are more or less distinct racial
types.
The total population of the territory under discussion
is about 34,133,500.1
It is a commentary upon the centuries of rnisgovern-
nient and oppression which the Levant has suffered at
the hand of Moslem rulers that the average density
of the population in the territory under consideration
is only 14, about three-fifths of that which obtains in the
newly developed United States of America, and that
too in a land which formerly cradled all of Western
civilisation. Of single provinces, Asia Minor, Armenia,
and Syria have the densest populations, with 47, 34, and
33 persons respectively to the square mile. Quite
recently, extensive irrigation works have been projected
for the reclamation of desert land in Mesopotamia.
These plans, when carried out, will help to increase
the population of this section of country.
There are four main language areas. Arabic, the
language of the Koran, is spoken throughout Arabia,
Palestine, Syria, and to a considerable extent in Mesopo-
tamia. The Turkish language prevails in all the northern
portion of Turkey in Asia. Persia has, of course, its
own language. In Kurdistan, where there are 1,000,000
* See Statesman' s Year Book : —
Turkey in Asia : Population
Asia Minor
Armenia and Kurdistan
Mesopotamia
Syria
Arabia .
British Territory :
Aden and Protectorate . . 800,000
Bahrein Islands . . 70,000
9,089,200
2,470,900
1,398,200
3,675,200
1,050,000
17,683,500
870,000
Oman ....... 800,000
Interior Arabia ..... 5,280,000
Persia ...... 9,500,000
Total. , , , , . 34.133.500
172 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Persian Kurds and 1,500,000 Turkish Kurds, there is
the Kurdish language, of which there are many dialects.
While Arabic, Turkish, and Persian are the chief lan-
guages, and while they have been mastered by foreign
missionaries and also made the vehicles for the dissemina-
tion of Gospel truth, yet, for most of the Kurdish dialects,
no grammar has been worked out and only part of the
Gospels have been translated.
Religious Condition. — The solidarity of the Asiatic
Levant is to be found in its religious faith. From the
Mediterranean in the west to the mountains of Afghan-
istan in the east, from the Indian Ocean on the south
to the Caspian Sea on the north, with but slight exception
Mohammed is the prophet of God, and Islam challenges
Christianity. The adherents of the Oriental Churches
number altogether some 4,000,000 souls, of which number
2,000,000 are adherents of tHe Greek Church in the
Turkish Empire and 1,250,000 are adherents of the
Armenian Church. More than one-third of these are
to be found in the Asia Minor provinces, where they
constitute about one-sixth of the population ; over half
a million are in Armenia, where they constitute one-
fourth of the population. There are also several thou-
sands of Parsees, all of whom are in Persia. These small
numbers, of diverging faiths, however, need not and
should not be permitted to weaken the impression that
the stronghold of Mohammedanism is the Asiatic Levant,
a land over which the Crescent holds absolute sway.
Of the 30,000,000 Moslems with whom we are dealing,
some 21,000,000 are Sunnis, or orthodox Moslems.
These are to be found in the Levant west of Persia. In
Persia, there are some 8,000,000 Shiah, or heretical
Moslems, and the number of Behais is estimated all
the way from 200,000 to 1,000,000. The Wahabis of
Arabia do not represent so much a distinct sect as a
reforming and ultra-conservative movement within the
orthodox camp of Islam. Sufism similarly represents a
mystical and pietistic movement which has gained con-
siderable headway in Persia.
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 173
■ It is important to emphasise the low intellectual and
social conditions which characterise this entire Moslem
world. It is scarcely safe to assume that more than
ten per cent, of the population of the Levant can
read and write. Just now, however, there are signs
on every hand of an intellectual awakening induced
by the public discussions of recent political developments
and by the rapid multiplication of newspapers. The
opportunities for getting an education are not at all
commensurate with this demand, and the agencies are
therefore lacking by which these deplorable and wide-
spread conditions of illiteracy may be relieved.
Social conditions present in the Levant, as elsewhere
in the Moslem world, the most hopeless and pitiable.
]:iicture. Polygamy is common almost ever3rwhere
throughout Turkey and Arabia, save where poverty
sets a limit upon this social evil which Islam has legalised.
In Persia reform movements have made open polygamy
less reputable and therefore less common, but here tem-
porary marriages are sanctioned by religion and are
most common, so that social life is degraded rather than
uplifted. Throughout almost the whole of the Moslem
Levant, divorce is so common that the testimony of
a missionary in Arabia would probably be that of mission-
aries in the Levant generally, " I scarcely know one
man above thirty years of age who has not been married
two or three times."
What an interesting j^et saddening picture the Asiatic
Levant presents. There is much to stir Christian sym-
pathy. Within this territory lie thirty millions of people
bound by ignorance and illiteracy, caught in the meshes
of a low and degrading, a polygamous and divorce-abound-
ing social life. There is much to challenge effort. Within
this territory is to be found the religious centre of the whole
Moslem world, Mecca, and on its border the political
centre, Constantinople, for this city is more a city of
Asia than a city of Europe. There is much to show
the inadequacy of Islam. For almost thirteen centuries
this great territory has been subject to Islam, and thir-
174 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
teen centuries ought to suffice to prove the genius of any
rehgion. Educationally, what great need ! Everywhere
ilHteracy abounds, for education has at best been only
the privilege of the few. Industrially, too, the whole
country presents a scene of almost unrelieved desolation.
Palestine, the Land of Promise, became long ago a waste.
Mesopotamia has largely lapsed into a barren desert
by the neglect of irrigation works. Onerous taxation
has discouraged industry. Lack of communication
with the outside world has robbed the Levant both of
improved methods of industry and of markets for its
products. Religiously, every effort has been made to
rehabilitate Islam, The Wahabi has sought to return
to the simplicity and severity of a millennium ago, the
Babi has sought to break away from Islam and find
refuge in mysticism, and the modern Behai has sought
to vest Islamic thought with Christian morality. The
orthodoxy of the Semite Sunni in the west and the
heresy of the Aryan Shiah in the east, have both been
weighed in the balances of individual, social, and national
experience, and have been found wanting.
II. HINDRANCES TO MISSIONARY EFFORT
To understand or appreciate the history of missions
in the Asiatic Levant the fullest consideration must be
given to a supreme hindrance which has attended all
missionary work in this section of the world. It is the
absence of religious liberty, especially within the Turkish
Empire.
There is no occasion for discussing here the large
and interesting question, whether the new regime in
Turkey may not remove these serious disabilities and
allow such religious liberty as commonly obtains in
other lands. As a matter of fact, the situation has
greatly improved during the past two years. Further
radical changes seem inevitable, but the character of
those changes remains largely to be determined.
The absence of religious liberty in the Levant in th^
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 175
past has been commonly recognised, but it is doubtful
whether the seriousness of this difficulty has been as
readily appreciated. Islam is a political as well as a ^2^
religious system. This fact lies at the foundation of the
whole situation. There is logically as little release from
the obligation to persecute the Christian and punish by
death the Moslem who accepts the Christian faith, as
there is release from the obligation to believe in the
Prophet and observe the fast. Both are grounded upon
divine authority and are clearly prescribed by the Koran.
When to this religious necessity there are added the
incentives of a cruel nature, of bigotry and fanaticism,
of pride and material advantage, of political intrigue and
partisan movements, it can readily be seen that the law
of hostility to the Christian will not fail of enforcement.
Nor has it, as a century of missionary effort may show.
Only as the record of this effort is followed from year
to year throughout the hundred years of missions in
the Levant and from place to place throughout the
great divisions of this territory will an adequate apprecia-
tion be had of the seriousness of this hindrance. The
history of everyrnissionary effort in the Levant has
been a story of limitation and delay because of political
opposition^ and of success achieved only in the face of
discouraging hindrances.
Liberty for a Moslem to profess Christianity has been
rigidly denied. Within two years a Moslem woman,
about twenty-five years of age, professed Christianity.
Though she fled to Egypt and every effort was made
to save her, she was ordered to be returned to her relatives
in Syria, the judgment of the Court being that so long
as she remains unmarried a woman is entirely subject
to the will and wishes of her father and family. For a
Moslem man to profess Christianity has ordinarily been
the signal for a religious riot. " Until the end of the
old regime," writes a missionary authority in 1909,
" religious freedom was absolutely non-existent for
Moslems. The only safety for a converted Moslem lay
in flight from the country."
176 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Not only has this pohtical power sought to prevent
the fruitage of Christian missionary effort, but it has
laboured to restrict the effort itself. However deter-
minedly any mission has started out to address itself
exclusively to Moslems in the past, it has been forced,
as the condition of its very entrance and continuance,
to affiliate itself and its work with the native Christian
community. The only exception is possibly in the
case of work in Independent Arabia. A single quotation
must suffice for the further portrayal of this difficulty —
" Until recently," writes a missionary, " our work has
been greatly hindered by the suspicion and dislike v/ith
which foreign labourers have been regarded by the
Government, and by the restrictions put upon them and
their native co-labourers. Travelling permits have been
refused, and at one time several missionaries were
detained a number of v/eeks at the capital until the
American Minister told them to go without permit, and
he would be responsible for the consequences. The
writer was absolutely refused permission to go to Erzerum
to assist with relief work in 1895, but a fellow-missionary,
a British subject, was ahTe to go because his Ambassador
demanded the permission so peremptorily that the
authorities did not think it wise to refuse. The restric-
tions on the travel of native ecclesiastics and colporteurs
have also been great.
" Places of worship and schools have been closed
because they were opened without an Imperial Firman,
and to secure the desired Firman has been difficult or
impossible. Missionaries, when buying real estate, have
been required to give a pledge that it would not be used
for a church or a school. A Protestant congregation in
Constantinople purchased a most desirable site for the
erection of a church twenty-nine years ago, and the
permission to build has not yet been given ! "
It is a question how long a mission and its workers can
hold fast to a definite aim which for years and decades
has seemed to be wholly impossible of realisation. The
limitations under which missionary work has been
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 177
carried on in the Levant owing to the absence of reUgious
liberty will explain — many might consent to add, will
excuse — three facts : (i) the fewness of recorded con-
versions from Islam to Christianity ; (2) the limitation
of work for Moslems almost entirely to methods indirectly
missionary; and (3) the actual abandonment," orT the
part of some, of all effort to reach Moslems. For example,
one missionary writes : " Work for Moslems has not been
an integral part of the policy of the mission until the
last three years. ... In support of this, the argument
would have been . . . the political impossibility of an
aggressive work for the evangelisation of Mohammedans."
III. MISSIONARY EFFORT
The scope of this survey excludes from consideration
those extended labours among Oriental Churches which
are to be found, to so great a degree, within the territory
here dealt with.
Missions in Asia Minor, Armenia, and Kttrdistan. —
This survey covers that broad stretch of country which
lies to the north of the 36th degree north latitude, and
which extends from the Mediterranean to Persia. Here
are 265,530 square miles — one-fourth more than the
area of France — with a population of 11,560,100. In
this great territory the American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions carries on the most extensive work ;
it has also been on the field longest, dating its first work
in Constantinople back to the year 183 1, and in Smyrna
to 1820. The German Orient Mission, however, has
two stations in Armenia. The results of almost a
century of work may be briefly summed up as
follows : —
At almost all important centres missionary work has
Jbeea-begun. To give a list of these would be to give a
list of the chief cities of this district. It is a significant
fact that every one of the more important cities with a
population upward of 34,000 has been occupied as a
piission station. In the eastern section, especially in
COM. I. — 12
178 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Armenia and Kurdistan, the country is still sparsely
and feebly occupied.
Missionary institutions have also been estabUshed, and
by slow and wise development of their institutional life
have attainedTo^aiT efficiency and influence of incalculable
importance. At Constantinople are the mission press,
Robert College, and the American College for Girls ; at
Smyrna, Tarsus, Marash, Aintab, Marsovan, and Harpoot
are institutions of collegiate rank. There are also six
hospitals. The influence of the medical, the literary, and
the educational work has been far-reaching. Public
opinion has been moulded. Many have been prepared
for leadership in the New Turkey movements. The
influences of Christian thought and teachings have far
outstripped all individual confessions of personal faith in
Christ. Missionary institutions are also serving as
models for other institutions now being launched through
native enterprise.
Furthermore, to many members of Oriental Churches
the Spirit of God seems to have brought new spiritual life.
They have been organised together, thus safeguarding
their spiritual interests and increasing their effectiveness
in service. The foundations of native Churches have thus
become well established. Many individual Moslems have
been reached by indirect methods and by personal and
private interviews, even though open confession is not
yet possible.
Throughout this territory, as well as all the other
parts of the Asiatic Levant, the work of the Bible
Societies has been of primary importance, especially
in the work among Mohammedans. The Bible has been
circulated extensively in two translations designed for
the Mohammedan world, the Turkish and the Arabic.
To this work is undoubtedly due very largely the spiritual
awakening among Mohammedans, and their inquiring
attitude towards Christianity in these lands.
Missions in Syria. — Syria includes the six provinces
or districts of Aleppo, Zor, Syria, Beirut, Jerusalem,
Lebanon, comprising a population of 3,675,200.
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 179
Even a superficial study of missionary effort within this
territory will suggest a differentiation between that
section of country which is conterminous with ancient
Palestine and the remaining portion of the country.
Within the limits of what may be designated as " the
Holy Land" Christian sentiment has led to the establish-
ment of almost innumerable forms of work — sixteen
different societies with thirty-seven mission stations
manned by foreign workers for a population of a million
and a quarter — resulting, as missionary reports show,
in an entanglement of interests, an overlapping of fields
of work, foolish and hannful rivalries and cross purposes, -"''
which, when joined to the complex situation resulting
from the presence of the warring factions of the Oriental
Churches, make this field perhaps the most difficult in
the world. It should be pointed out that the work of the
Church Missionary Society is easily the most extensive
and wisely planned. It will also be noted presently that
in spite of the overcrowding of missionary organisations
into this territory, there are unoccupied and neglected
sections.
In the northern section of the territory under con-
sideration, the largest and most effective work is that
of the American Presbyterians, who have, in four main
mission districts, fifteen men missionaries and twelve
women missionaries (excluding wives). Here the dis-
tinctive methods of work are the educational, the medical,
and the hterary, though the evangelistic has not been
neglected. The Syrian Protestant College at Beirut,
with its 870 students, is not under the control of the
Mission, but is an outgrowth of the Mission's educational
policy. Its graduates have gone far and wide, carrying
with them clearer conceptions of Christian truth and
frequently~distinguishing themselves as leaders in the
progressive movements of their communities. One
hundred and fifteen mission schools carry Christian
education to 5688 pupils. The most significant contribu-
tion, however, of this Mission to the advancement of the
Kingdom of Christ has been the translation and printing
180 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
of the standard version of the Arabic Bible. It was trans-
lated by Dr. Eli Smith and Dr. C. V. A. Van Dyck, and
was printed at the expense of the American Bible Socie+y
by the Beirut Press in 1865. Its sale extends from
Constantinople to Khartum, and from Beirut to Busrah,
Bombay, and even to Canton. The Beirut Press may
be regarded as one of the most potent single missionary
agencies in this section of the Levant.
Missionary work in Syria has, therefore, had a good
beginning. In the face of difficulties which seemed
almost insuperable and limitations irksome beyond
description, owing to Moslem misrule, tyranny and
intolerance, the Christian missionary has held his ground,
bided his time, trusted in God, improved his opportunities,
and laid a foundation for future work which must serve
for all time as a supreme example of undiscourageable
purpose. The centres occupied are thought to be strategic-
ally located, and save for one section, adequate in
number. It remains only for each to become, by re-en-
forcement, a more effective centre of missionary influence
and activity. A broad work of preparation — how far-
reaching no man can tell — has been accomplished in
the lives both of those of the present generation and of
those of the rising generation, by church, school, press,
and hospital, so that the coming day of opportunity is
not only being hastened, but is becoming the more
charged with significance. Native church organisations
have also been effected and gratifying results are becoming
evident as a result of a commendable insistence, in some
quarters at least, upon a policy of self-support in the
development of these organisations. ~^
Missions in Arabia and Mesopotamia. — Following both
the general configuration of the country and the activities
of missionary agencies, these two sections of the Levant
may be treated together. Arabia has an area of 1,230,276
square miles and a population of some 8,000,000. Meso-
potamia has an area of 143,250 square miles and a popula-
tion of 1,398,200. The entire territory, therefore, presents
a population about equal to the combined populations
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 181
of Scotland and Ireland, with an area about twenty-two
times that of these two countries.
Within this territory three missionary areas are easily
recognised, that of the Church Missionary Society, with
centres at Mosul and Baghdad ; that of the Reformed
Church in America, with centres at Busrah, Bahrein, and
Muscat ; and that of the United Free Church of Scotland,
with Sheikh Othman (near Aden) as its centre. In this
last area the Danish Church Mission is also represented
In all these missions medical work takes the lead, with ^ ^ ,
educational work comingTrex:t. A very extensive work
of direct evangelisation is also carried on by itineration, ^^
the distribution of Christian literature, and private con-
versations and interviews with individuals.
In considering the work done, a recognition of its
pioneer character is essential to any proper appreciation
of it. Arabia might well claim the title of " the Ignored
Peninsula." Attention enough does she receive frbriTthe
votaries of Islam because of the sacred shrine at Mecca,
but from Christendom she has had scant consideration,
and that only since 1885, when the Hon. Ion Keith-
Falconer laid the foundation of a mission at Aden, and
two years later sealed it with his death. Viewed as the
awakening of Christendom to the claims of Arabia as a
mission field, it is significant that a beginning has been
made, however inadequate the effort may yet be. The
actual needs and conditions of this field are becoming
better known by the explorations of missionaries and
others. Strategic points, though still too widely separ-
ated, have been occupied. Through the thousands who
are reached each year, especially through the niedical
work^ relationships of sympathy are being established
with the Moslem communities ; prejudice is being re-
rnoved, hostility is abating, a spirit of inquiry is develop-
ing, and among an increasing number of individuals an
openness of mind is being manifested which was unknown
a decade ago.
Missions in Persia. — After the short but famous visit
of Henry Martyn in i8iij_who spent eleven months
182 CARRYIK^G THE GOSPEL
in Shiraz completing the translation of the New Testa-
ment into Persian, and had extensive intercourse with
the learned Mullahs of that ancient sect of Persian
culture, mission work was begun in Persia in 1835
under the auspices of the American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, in the north-western province
of Azerbaijan, and the centre of a growing and prosperous
work for nearly four decades was in Urumiya, the reputed
birthplace of Zoroaster. But here, too, as in Asiatic
Turkey, the work of the American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions was confined to the ancient Christian
population, the Nestorian or Syrian Church, inhabiting
partly the extremely fertile plain along the western
shore of Lake Urumiya, and in greater extension the wild,
pathless mountain deserts stretching from the Persian
frontier right through Kurdistan to Mosul on the Tigris
River. The history of this energetic endeavour to en-
lighten and raise to a higher plane of spiritual life this
decadent and downtrodden but venerable Church is a
chequered one, but on the whole it has been very success-
ful. But this work lies outside the scope of the present
survey.
After the transfer of this Urumiya mission from the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
to the American Presbyterian Mission Board in 1871,
mission work for the Persian Moslem population
was undertaken. Since that time this direct Moslem
work has become the leading factor in the Persia Mission.
In 1869 a missionary of the Church Missionary Society
entered the country, settling at first in Julfa, a suburb
of Ispahan ; and this small effort, beginning with tlie
pastoral care of a large Armenian congregation there,
afterwards developed an extensive Moslem mission.
Both missions have divided the large field between
them, the Presbyterian Mission assuming responsibility
for the northern third, the Church Missionary Society
for the southern two-thirds of the country. The 34th
parallel of latitude is roughly the boundary line of the
two societies.
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 183
Both missions have branched out and founded a series
of strongly manned and well-equipped stations, the
Presbyterian Board at Teheran (280,000), Resht (35,000),
Kazvin (35,000), Tabriz (200,000), and Hamadan (35,000),
besides Urumiya already referred to ; and the Chvirch
Missionary Society at Yezd (35,000), Kerman (60,000),
and Shiraz (50,000), besides Ispahan (80,000) and Julfa.
Missionary work has therefore been begun in all but four
of the larger cities of Persia.
The most promineirLjriethod, employed extensively
and with considerable success, has been that of medical
missions. There are large hospitals at almost all stations,
and the medical missions of Persia are among the best
equipped in the whole mission field. That some 70,000
patients should be treated, that a medical missionary
should receive from the Shah the decoration of the order
of the " Ljon_and the.Sun " in the first degree, and another
should receive the second degree of the same order, that
the rigorous Moslem law of the seclusion of women should
be relaxed to admit the foreign doctor into the Persian
home, and that superstitions, bigotry, and open perse-
cution should disappear where the magic influence of the
medical missionary is felt, are results encouraging enough
for the present and more promising for the future.
Repeated efforts have also been made at all the stations
to gather Mohammedan boys and girls into the mission
schools, and even to establish separate schools for them.
A foundation for future appeal is thus being laid in the
lives of several hundreds ol the rising generation.
The distribution of the Scriptures figures so largely
in missionary work in Persia that special mention should
be made of the Bible^ocieties. " At present the Ameri- •
can Bible Society has no resident agent, but Presbyterian
missionaries are constantly using its publications in
colportage, and in other ways. The British and Foreign
Bible Society has an energetic agent at Ispahan's southern
suburb, Julfa, and colporteurs travelling extensively
throughout the country."
Converts from Islam are not many, but the very fact
184 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
that there are some, and that each year now witnesses
almost a score of lm})tisms, can well he regarded as a
miracle of grace and of courage in this land where Chris-
tianity is all but outlawed.
IV. THE INADEQUACY OF THE PRESENT MISSIONARY
OCCUPATION
Turkey in Asia. — In this section the whole of Turkey
in Asia is considered, with the exception of that which lies
in Arabia.
Although emphasis was laid in a previous section upon
the strategic occupation of this territory and upon the
overlapping of agencies in Palestine, it is not inconsistent
to lay emphasis now upon the limitations of this occupa-
tion.
Considerable groups of population are entirely un-
reached even in tlie midst of territory seemingly over-
occupied. If missionary agencies in Palestine overlap,
just east of the Jordan are fields wholly untouched. The
BedouirTArab (that is, tentTd-weller) population connected
with the Palestine Mission area may be said to be wholly
outsicle^the pale of Christian influence or missionary
work. There are almost a quarter of a million of these.
Save for one mission station at es Salt, the entire ter-
ritory east of the Jordan is unoccupied. The Druses, of
whom there are some 78,000, are practically untouched,
though mission work has been attempted among them at
different times. Farther north are two districts, one in
Hauran, east of the Jordan, and the other, the Ansariyeh
Mountains between Tripoli and Alexandretta, which have
a population of some 350,000, and which are unoccupied
and unreached. To the east, the section to the north
of Harpoot in the Anti-Taurus Mountains, called the
Dersim, which is inhabited by non-orthodox Moslem
Kurds, is entirely neglected. Still farther east, the
Arabs, who are largely nomadic and who are thought to
number, under Turkish rule, 1,100,000, are unreached
by any existing missionary agency. Some 600,000
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 185
Moslem Kurds in this same section of country are also
untonclied.
-"TTIe inadequacy of the missionar^_QCCupation of
Turkey in Asia is really more serious than the foregoing
statements reveal. Even if the sections referred to
above were excepted, it would be very far from true that
the remaining territory was adequately occupied. How-
ever much a given station may seem to afford adequate
missionary provision for the needs of a given area, the
supreme hindrance of political opposition and of Moslem
intolerance has prevented that station from bearing any
other than the most superficial and indirect relation to the
Moslem population. This is not a matter of theory, but a
cruel fact freely admitted by missionaries in Turkey. The
following frank statements may be cited : " The entirely
Mohammedan towns are, however, at the present time
practically inaccessible to the mission. So the real field
of work of the latter is at present confined to a population
embracing about 30,000 souls, a quarter of which perhaps
are Oriental Christians." Another missionary places
among the unreached classes, " the vast Mohammedan
])opulation forming the majority of the people in the cities,
towns, and some whole districts." Still another mission-
ary says : " The work in this field has been almost ex-
clusively among the Armenians, as is the case in all other
mission fields in Turkey. The 183,000 Mohammedans
in this province have not been touched." A report from
still another section reads : " The entire Moslem popula-
tion, which outnumbers the Christians more than two to
one, has not been touched ; and thus far no intelligent
general effort has been made to reach them ; only personal
effort here and there has shown the difficulties as well
as the possibilities of preaching the Gospel to the
Moslems of this land."
It must be remembered that the Moslem population of
Turkey in Asia (exclusivejof j\rabia) numbers approxi-
mately i4,ooo,ooo^oTiTs, and these must be regarded at the
present time~as beyond the reach of missionary agencies
as they now exist. It may be true to a great degree that
186 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the failure to occupy this Moslem world has been due to the
limitations of a hostile Moslem Government, but the fact
that this vast section of human life is still untouched by
missionary effort must be fully recognised if the work
remaining to be done would be clear!}' apprehended.
In view of inadequacy of the present missionary occupa-
tion of Turkey in Asia, a marked extension of missionary
work is imperative along the folio wThg lines : —
1. The wholly unoccupied districts, already mentioned,
and containing an aggregate population of 2,000,000 soiils,
demand the opening up of new stations by societies
contiguous to these sections. This applies especially to
Eastern Turkey.
2. Elsewhere, especially in Western Turkey, the need is
not so much for the opening up of new stations as for the
reinforcement of existing stations, so that these may
become really effective centres of work, carrying on an
aggressive and not merely a defensive missionary cam-
paign. It is not too much to say that the missionary
force at almost every station should be doubled. Too
great emphasis can scarcely be laid upon this need, as the
following statement from a missionary in Turkey shows :
" The present occupation of our field by missionary
agencies can be considered as only conservative or defensive.
The work is not progressing. The idea of winning the
whole country for Christ is not prominent in the minds
of any of the workers or people. The thought dominating
the work is to hold on to what has been gained and to do
as much work as can be done in the face of limitless
opportunities. This is not the way to evangelise this
country. The moral influence of this kind of work on the
local churches and on those outside is such as to foster
sectarianism or to lay emphasis on the difference between
one creed and another, instead of laying emphasis on the
winning of the whole field. An aggressive campaign
whose watchword should be the winning of the whole
world for Christ, would rally to its support thousands
of potential workers who are now idle or indifferent."
3. Missionaries, especially trained and especially set
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 187
aside for work aniong^IoslemSj^acqnainted with Moham-
medan literature and the JMohammedan view-point,
constitute, perhaps, the greatest^ need of the work in
Turkey to-day. One such missionary should be located
at each main station, and especially in connection with
every hospital. This need is accentuated by the fact that
the absence of religious liberty in the past has served to
dull the edge of missionary effort for Moslems, so that the
Moslem world as an objective for missionary effort calls
for renewed emphasis. There is a wide opening at the
present time for the introduction not so much of institu-
tional methods, as of personal work methods. The
introduction of the Young Men's Christian Association
methods has been strongly" urged.
4. There is an urgent need for the correlation of all
the missionary educational forces of the country. If
there exists an adequate number of higher institutions of
learning, these call for improved equipment and enlarged
curricula, while there is a widespread need for the opening
up of numerous primary schools which will lead up to these
higher institutions.
5. A supreme need, which the recent revolution in
Turkey has emphasised, is for Christian literature. Not
only is directly religious literature needed but, leading up
to it, and preparatory to it, a literature is needed which
will remove prejudice and awaken sympathy in the hearts
of those who are wholly unwilling to consider the claims
of Christianity. There is also a large field for Christian
journalism.
Arabia. — What vast stretches of unoccupied territory
this field presents ! How inadequate is the work launched
in comparison with the needs of this great country !
Three missionary areas were pointed out. But there is
need to remember that Muscat is 550 miles from Bahrein
and Bahrein is 1150 miles from Aden, while along the
1500 miles of straight coast-line to the north-west of
Aden along the Red Sea, there is absolutely no mission
work. Of the six provinces of Arabia, only three are
occupied by mission stations, while the vast interior of
188 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Arabia, a territory 1500 miles by iioo miles, and at
least partially inhabited, is both unoccupied and only
partially explored. Of the 8,000,000 inhabitants of
Arabia, it is entirely safe to say that fully 6,000,000 are
without any missionary agency.
If the Cradle of Islam is to receive the Gospel, mission-
^ ary e2cpansion . is imperative. The missionary force at
existing mission stations is generally estimated as being at
present only one-half the desired strength. Entrance
into interior Arabia may not be an immediate possibility,
but missionary itineration would prepare the way for
such entrance. Ten important points along the coast
have been suggested as calling for missionary occupation.
Thus the peninsula would be encircled with light-centres,
while trade movements would undoubtedly avail to carry
the Gospel truth inland. Medical work must be the
great opener of doors, and there is urgent need for a
carefuUy planned system of medical itinerancy with
clearly defined hospital centres. Arabia urgently calls
also for women workers, especially doctors.
Persia. — ^The total number of missionaries in Persia is
about 43 (not counting ^wives). This allows but one
missionary to 221,000 of the population.
There are also entire sections and classes practically
untouched. The whole north-eastern section of Persia,
with Meshed on the north and Birjand on the south, with
a population of approximately 1,000,000 souls, is rarely
visited even by native colporteurs and is in no sense
cultivated by foreign missionaries. In the south-east lies
Persian Beluchistan, with a population of 25,000 souls,
scarcely ever visited even by colporteurs. The religion
consists chiefly of the worship of pirs (saints). On the
south coast and the Persian Gulf are sections populated
by Arabs, scarcely touched by any existing missionary
effort. The nomad tribes, estimated as numbering in
Persia 1,000,000 souls, are wholly unreached. Ignorant
and uneducated, but physically strong and morally nigged,
they have very indefinite religious notions and are in
great spiritual heed. Other neglected sections are the
THE ASIATIC LEVANT 189
Turkish tribes of Fars and Laristan, thought to number
12,000 tents ; Arabs in Fars and Laristan, said to number
3000 tents, and others in Arabistan, estimated at 170,000
to 200,000 individuals ; also some 300,000 Lurs in Laristan
and Baktigariland.
If the question is asked v/hether it is possible, under the
existing political and religious conditions in Persia, greatly
to enlarge missionary operations, it must be answered
distinctly in the afftr.native. If primary stress be laid —
as has been done in the older stations — on a large extension
of medical mission work, if hospitals be built, and men and
women medical missionaries be sent out, there is no
reason why^ mission work could not be extended almost
without limit. The only barrier is not the condition of the/
field, but the lack of suitable, well-prepared men and
the means for establishing medical stations. Of course,
progress would in all probability be slow for some time to
come ; medical schools would act as the pioneers ; schools
of a higher grade and primary schools would be opened
with a rather strong opposition at the beginning, but they
would win their way if the right men, men wise and
persevering, were in charge. The distribution of the
Scriptures should be very greatly extended. A very
great need for Christian literature for Moslems is also
felt. There is enough controversial literature, but there
is a lack of syinpathetic literature to explain and interpret
to the Moslem mind the Christian faith and its Divine
Founder. Recent political events have also opened a
wide door for contact with Persian Moslem life by means
of clubs and debating societies.
This section of the Report began with a recognition of
the solidarity of the Asiatic Levant. For purposes of
more detailed study, the geographical divisions of this
section of the world were treated separately. There is
need now, in closing, to emphasise anew the unity of these ^
political areas. Turkey, Arabia, and Persia are bound
together by ties w^hich cannot be broken. The races of
the Asiatic Levant are essentially subject to the same
190 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
laws of development. One race may be in the van,
another at the rear, but all form parts of the same general
movement. The political upheavals of Persia have their
counterpart at Constantinople. The religious thought
of each section modifies the thought life of every other
section. This truth has its significance for the missionary
enterprise. It is not a guerilla warfare which is being
waged. It is a unified spiritual campaign. And it is
none other than the Spirit of God who has unified the great
movements of missionary activity in the Levant, often,
too, altogether without any conscious apprehension of
it on the part of those who laboured.
The past has laid a good foundation. Its experiences
have made trial of methods and of men. Just now,
signal political developments, a remarkable intellectual
awakening, and a considerable degree of religious liberty
seem to mark the dawn of a new day. A call comes for a
wise adaptation of missionary methods to these new
conditions and then for advance, a forward movement
whose dominant characteristics will be faith and love.
CENTRAL ASIA
Between the Nearer and Farther East, north of India
and south of the Siberian Steppes, stretches the region
known as Central .Asia. Here is the roof of the world
and the water-shed of the largest continent. Here
three empires, India, Russia, and China, meet. Here
three great religions have struggled for the mastery and
one after the other held supremacy for centuries. Buddh-
ism and Christianity still count their adherents, but
Islam has swept the field, except in Tibet, and the whole
territory is practically unoccupied by Christian missions.
Less kno^vn than Central Africa and in some places less
thoroughly explored, it constitutes a vast area of ghastly
deserts and fertile oases ; of parched plains and navigable
rivers ; of perpetual snow and perpetual drought. It varies
in elevation from the low depressions of the Caspian
Sea and the basin of the Turfan 300 feet below sea level
in the very heart of Asia, to the high plateaus of Tian Shan
and Mt. Kailas 26,000 feet above the sea.
In this survey we include Afghanistan, Chinese Turke-
stan, Bokhaxa, Khiva, Russian Turkestan, the trans-
Caspian province, together with the Steppes, and Tibet.
According to the table (see p. 192) the field under con-
sideration has a total area of 2,695,730 square miles and
a population of 23,368,000. These figures, however,
would give a wrong impression of the real density of
the population. Since the rainfall of Central Asia has
decreased so that its rivers fail to reach the sea, less than
a tenth of the total area is permanently habitable. The
population therefore is comparatively dense in the
irrigated oases along the rivers. "
191
192
CARRYING THE GOSPEL
TABLE.
{Statesman's Year Book, IQ09.)
Area.
Population.
sq. miles.
Tibet (with Koko-nor) ....
463,200
6,500,000
Afghanistan ......
250,000
4,500,000
Chinese Turkestan .....
550,000
1, 200, coo
Bokhara .......
83,000
1,250,000
Khiva .......
24,000
800,000
Russian Turkestan —
Ferghana ......
35,446
1,828,700
Samarkand ......
26,627
1,109,900
Syr Darya
194,147
1,795,400
Semiretchinsk .....
144,550
1,122,400
Trans-Caspian Province ....
213,855
405,5^0
Steppes (four Provinces of Akmolinsk, Tur-
gai, Semipalatinsk, and Uralsk)
Totals for Central Asia
710,905
2,856,100
2,695,730
23,368,000
I. THE FIELD TO BE EVANGELISED
A conglomeration of different races, tribes, and peoples,
struggling for existence rather than for mastery ; a
medley of humanity displayed possibly nowhere else on
the globe in greater variety and yet welded into a seeming
unity by physical environment, a common, though ahen,
religion, and the same political hopes and fears — such is
Central Asia.
With the one exception of Tibet, Islajn has spread over
all the region and dominates the heart of Asia socially,
intellectually, and spiritually as "strongly and over-
whelmingly as it doesj^orth Africa. The city of Bokhara,
with 10,000 students and 364 mosques, is the Cairo of
Asia ; it is the centre of Moslem learning and iniluence
for all the Middle East. Tashkend has over three
hundred mosques and a large Mohammedan library. All
the great cities of Central Asia, with the exception of
those in Tibet, are thoroughly Mohammedan. Moham-
CENTRAL ASIA 193
medans have dwelt unmolested in Lhasa for the last
three hundred years. Afghanistan is wholly Moslem,
while Chinese and Russian Turkestan, with the exception
of the ruUng and military classes, are also prevailingly
Mohammedan. The social life, the literature, architec-
ture, art, etiquette and everyday speech of all Central
Asia bear the_trade-mark of Islani. An ordinary pocket-
compass goes byTHe name of " Mecca-pointer," and the
wild men of Hunza, shut out by the mountains from
every contact with the outside world, have no God but
Allah, and no idea of the world save that its centre is
Arabia.
I. Afghanistan by the new demarcation of its boun-
daries includes five major provinces and two minor
districts. In the province of Herat alone there are six
hundred villages, but the chief centres of population
are the provincial capitals of Kandahar, Kabul, Herat,
Balkh, and Kunduz. The first nameThas a population
of 50,000. There is considerable agriculture ; exports
to India and Bokhara amount to at least Rs. 1,000,000 a
year. The common door of entrance to Afghanistan
from Persia is by way "of Meshed, from Bokhara by Merv,
and from India by the Khait)ar Pass to Kabul, the
Gomal Pass to Ghazni, or from Chaman, the terminus
of the North-Western Railway, to Kandahar. There
are roads for artillery, but none for wheeled traffic, and
no navigable rivers in the country. Pushtu is the
common speech everywhere, although the Turkestanis
use Turki and the Kafirs have a language of their own.
Persian, is the court and literary language and is taught in
the schools.
Afghanistan is morally one of the darkest places of
the earth, " full of the habitations of cruelty." Judicial
corruption and bribery are universal and the criminal
law based on the Koran and tradition is barbarous, in
the extreme. Torture in every conceivable form is
common, and the prisons of Kabul are horribly inhurnan.
Under the absolute rule of the Amir there is not even the
semblance of religious liberty or personal freedom.
COM. I.— 13
194 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Ninety per cent, of the people are illiterate, and woman-
hood is degraded.
2. Chinese Turkestan (called Sin-kiang) in its widest
sense includes Kuldja, Zungaria, and outer Kan-su, the
Chinese dependencies between Mongolia and Tibet-
The inhabitants are of various races, and the chief towns
are Urumtsi, the capital, Karashahr, Kashgar, Yarkand,
Khotan, and Aksu. Extremes of heat and cold mark
this region, zero weather changing to sudden spring.
The highest trade route in the world leads from India
over the Karakoram Pass, 18,300 feet, into Chinese
Turkestan. Caravans loaded with " tea, spices, cloth,
and Korans " make the dangerous journey. Skeletons
of horses and camels strew the pathway, and yet 1500
Chinese Moslem pilgrims chose this path over the roof
of the world to Mecca in a single year. The languages
of Chinese Turkestan are Chinese, Jagatai Turki, Kashgar
Turki and Kirghiz Turki. The percentage of illiteracy is
very high.
Among the Chantos of Eastern Turkestan social and
moral conditions are very low. " Flagrant immorality
is well-nigh universal. Khotan and Kiriya have the
reputation of being the most immoral cities of Asia." A
so-called respectable woman may have three or four
husbands in a year because of divorce and temporary
legal marriages. Among the Kirghiz women and the
nomads of Central Asia in general, better conditions
prevail.
3. Russia in Central Asia. — The total area and popu-
lation of Russian possessions and dependencies in Central
Asia are given in the table above. The chief centres of
population, trade and communication are the following
cities : Tashkent (155,673), Kokand (81,354), Namangau
(62,017), Samarkand (58,194), Karshi (25,000), Hissar
(10,000), Khiva (5,000), Osh (34,157), Semipalatinsk
(36,040). About sixty-five per cent, of the population
in Asiatic Russia have settled abodes, fifteen per cent.
are semi-nomadic, and twenty per cent, nomads of the
Steppes. The density of the population varies greatly.
CENTRAL ASIA 195
The climate varies exceedingly, but is generally healthful.
The means of transportation is by caravan along good
roads or by the Russian Trans-Caspian Railway and its
branches. The amount of money, time, and labour
expended by the Russian Government in works of irri-
gation, bridges, railways, military hospitals, and depots
is surprising. In addition to 3202 miles of railways
there is a regular steamboat service on the River Oxus
between Petro Alexandrovsk and Charjui for over 200
miles, and from Charjui to the head of navigation, Patta
Hissar, for 288 miles. Russian Central Asia is therefore
physically accessible nearly everywhere by rail or river,
and the great centres of population are knit together by
telegraph, commerce, and military occupation. Except
among the nominally Christian population — about ten
per cent. — social__and. moral conditions are like those of
other Moslem lands. Eighty-hve per cent, of the popula-
ti'onls illiterate.
4. Tibet, extending eastward from the Himalayan
Mountains to the frontier of China, has a population
estimated at over 6,000,000, according to the Statesman^
Year Book. This estimate is regarded by some authori-
ties as too high. The country is bleak and mountainous
and jealously^arded against strangers, and there are
therefore stiDTwide regions unexplored. The greater part
of the surface consists of high tablelands with snow-
capped mountains. In the central part there are
numerous lakes.
The prevailing religion throughout the whole of Tibet
is Lamaism, a corrupt form of Buddhism, but along with
it there still exists the older Bon, or Shamanistic faith.
Although the Government is'^conducted by commissioners
appointed at Peking, it was until very recently entirely
in the hands of the priests or lamas, whose niiinber is so
great as to give Tibet the name of a kingdom of priests.
Nearly all the Government taxes are expended on these
lamas, who live in highly decorated temples and mon-
asteries. " Among the people polyandry is common.
There are courts of justice, but douBtful cases are often
196 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
decided by lot or by ordeal, and in criminal cases evidence
is extracted by torture." The Buddhism of Tibet is
in its ethics not at all superior to the ordinary heathenism
of other parts of the world, and moral conditions are
pitiful. It is nevertheless in its teachings harder to
meet than mere paganism, for it is " a heathenism based
on hundreds of folios, evolving their philosophic system
of dialectics, a hoary heathenism centuries older than
Christianity. Proud, self-righteous, and self-satisfied it
is, in spite of its hollowness and superficiality ; stubbornly
tenacious of life, and so complete and minute in its
organisation that it inexorably sways the whole life,
religious, political, and social, of its adherents." Re-
markable poUtical changes are taking place in Tibet, and
it%eEoves the Church to watch carefully whether these
may not tend to the furtherance of the Gospel.
II. HOW FAR OCCUPIED
This extensive territory, with an area of nearly
2,700,000 square miles, thirteen times the size of France
and over twice as large as all of the United States east
of the Mississippi River, has within its actual bounds
only three mission stations. The Swedish Mission,
organised in 1894, occupies the two stations of Kashgar
and Yarkand in Chinese Turkestan. The total number
of missionaries is eleven. The total number of native
workers at the two stations is six, one of whom is a
regular evangelist. The four Gospels have been trans-
lated into Kashgari and put into circulation. The
China Inland Mission has lately placed one of its mission-
aries at the capital city of Urumtsi in the northern part
of Sin-kiang. The one worker at that city is preparing
himself for work amongst the Mohammedans by the
study of the Turki language. The British and Foreign
Bible Society has colporteurs at work from Tiflis and
Tashkent as centres, with some success in reaching the
regions beyond.
In Khiva and Russian Turkestan there are some
CENTRAL ASIA 197
German Mennonites expelled from Russia who try to
spread the Gospel among the Moslems and also give a
good example by their Cliristian life. There are also
some German Mennonites at Auli-Ata, eastward from the
city of Tashkent, who have commenced to distribute the
Gospel and to preach among the Kirghiz nation. Gener-
ally speaking, however, the Sarts, Uzbegs, Jews, and all
the other population of Bokhara, Khiva, and Turkestan
are still jinreached. The Gospels have been translated
into Uzbeg, Turki, and Kirghiz, and the whole Bible into
Russian.
'~Stterapts to enter Tibet were made very early in the
history of missions. In 1845 (not to speak of the journey
of Odoric, the Apostle of Tartary, in 1330) Father Gabet
and Father Hue penetrated to Lhassa, only to be
arrested and sent as prisoners to Canton. Numerous
attempts have been made since, both by Roman Catholic
and Protestant missionaries, by way of India and China.
The Moravian Church for over fifty years has been laying
siege in the name of Christ to these ancient strongholds
of Buddhism. A cojdon of missionary outposts is being
drawn around TTEet, and although it is weak and with
long gaps in the links, it extends from Kashmir along
the north frontier of India and Burma and reaches up
to the north of China.
It is more than 2000 miles from the Moravian station
among the Tibetan Buddhists, Leh in Ladak, to the
Chinese frontier, where the China Inland Mission on this
extreme outpost is trying to reach the eastern Tibetans.
The whole story of the attempted entrance into this
great closed land is full of heart-stirring heroism. The
Moravian brethren now occupy four stations in Little
Tibet. They have prepared grammars, a dictionary
and their translation ^f the New Testament and parts
of the Old Testament in Tibetan have been published
by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The China
Inland Mission, the Christian Missionary Alliance, the
Scandinavian Alliance Mission, the Church of Scotland
Mission, the London Missionary Society, the Church
198 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Missionary Society, the Foreign Christian Mission, and
the Assam Frontier Mission have all made preparatory
efforts, more or less extended, to enter this field. The
Central Asia Pioneer Mission (organised 1902) has a
station at Hoti-Mardan on the marches of India, near
Peshawar. The object of this Mission is to enter Afghan-
istan. Within a short distance of this outpost they
report 2000 villages yet unevangelised. The Chmxh
Missionary Society on the north-west frontier of India
at Peshawar, Bannu, and Dera - Ismail - Khan is in
close proximity not only to Afghanistan, but is begin-
ning to carry on mission work by itineration and
through its hospitals, as well as the circulation of the
Scriptures in the semi-independent states and frontier
tribal areas.
III. THE TASK REMAINING
Stretching for more than one thousand miles due north
from the Indian frontier and beyond the Church Mis-
sionary Society outposts, and for three thousand miles
from west to east all the way from Meshed, Persia, to
Batang, the first border station of China, is the un-
occupied heart of Asia. The great historic cities —
Samarkand, Tashkent, Kokand, Andijan, in Russian
Turkestan ; Turfan, Aksu, Hami, and Khotan, in Sin-
kiang, and the centres of population in Afghanistan,
are all without missionaries, and so is Tibet except along
its borders. Colonel Wingate, in writing of the spiritual
needs of Central Asia, says : " One remark is applicable
to all the tribes that lie beyond the Indian frontier, to
the Mohmands and Shinwaris, to the Kohistanis and the
Chitrals, to the inhabitants of Swat and Dir, of Hunza
and Yasin, that they are aU to-day_without the help of
medical science and skill, and would hail with uncommon
thankfulness the arrival of the medical missionary with
his dispensary and hospital, for the sake of which they-
would tolerate his Bible and listen to his exhortations,
andlearn to love the Saviour of all mankind." And
CENTRAL ASIA 199
what is true of the borders of Afghanistan is true of all
the regions beyond.
The experience of all workers in Moslem lands is
unanimous that greater and better results can be obtained
among this class of people through the work of medical
missionaries than in any other way. When we consider
the desperate need of the whole population, deprived of
all medical skill and subject to every superstition and
cruelty, the establishment of modern mission hospitals
in most of the large centres of population seems not
only essential but imperative. In regard to literary
work much remains to be done, and vastly more in the
line of education and evangelisation.
In the judgment of some missionary leaders, we should
strengthen by immediate reinforcement the work begun
so courageously and successfully at Kashgar and Yarkand
by the Swedish Mission, and begin work in the other
great centres along the Russian railway in Turkestan.
The present spiritual destitution and the age-long
neglect of all these countries are the strongest
possible arguments for their occupation. The pathos
of these millions still groping restlessly for the True Light
finds a voice in the record of many travellers who have
visited these lands. The fact that apparently insur-
mountable obstacles have hindered the evangelisation
of Central Asia in the past, and that there are still great
obstacles, should not limit our faith to-day. The reasons
for the long neglect were doubtless both religious and
political. The Janatic intolerance and pride of Islam
or of Lamaism have baffled the faith and deferred the
hope of those who might othei"wise, perhaps, have entered
and possessed the land. Tibet still is closed against the
actual_ residence of missionaries, although the people
are being reached across its borders. In Afghanistan
there is an absolute veto against any missionary entering,
and there is little prospect of this changing under the
present regime. A convert from Islam to Christianity
is regarded, within the realms of the Amir, as having
committed a capita] offence, and both law and public
200 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
opinion justifyhis. execution. Conditions in Russian
Turkestan and among the Chantos of Sin-kiang are not
so unfavourable. The entrance of a medical missionary
might prove the beginning of established work. If the
missionary is going to wait until the Foreign Office sanctions
his going and guarantees his protection or vengeance
for any injury done him, then the doors are closed. Tf
the missionary is to wait until it is safe to take his wife
and children into Central Asia with him, he may be
delayed many years, but the doors are not closed to those
who are v/illing to go in the same way as the selected
officers of the British Government. " Unmarried men,
or those who are willing to leave their families at home,
knowing the language, strong, robust, fearless, tactful —
if we had a hundred of such qualified men, carefully
selected, there would be little difficulty in putting them
into positions of enormous advantage for the spiritual
occupation of Central Asian territories."
It is not probable that amid all the restless movements
in the neighbouring Moslem nations— Turkey, Persia,
and India — Central Asia and Afghanistan will remain
dormant. On the contrary, there are indications that
the Pan-Islamic movement has reached Bokhara and
Kabul, as well as Orenburg and Tiflis. Not only is
there discussion of social reform in the Moslem press of
Russia, but the Tatar paper, Terjuman, recently contained
a proposition calling for a Pan-Islamic Congress to discuss
the reformation of Islam (London Times, October 12,
1908). At present the Moslems of Chinese Turkestan
are " the essence of imperturbable mediocrity. They
live a careless, easy, apathetic existence ; nothing disturbs
them. It is their destiny, shut awa}/ from the rest of
the world, to lead a dull, spiritless, but easy and perhaps
happy life, which they allow nothing to disturb." Let
these Moslems, however, once become aroused through
the press or the dervish preacher, and who can tell what
may be the result in Central Asia ? Now is the oppor-
/ tunity to carry the Gospel to them.
" Nothing can hold back the advance of Western civDisa-
CENTRAL ASIA 201
tion into the very heart of Asia. The railway and the
caravan are forcing upon the people through every pass
and along every channel of communication the latest
inventions of our times. At Kabul one may see motor
cars, sewing macliines, gramophones, rifles and smokeless
powder. "T5rie of the results of the visit of the Amir of
Afghanistan to India was that he arranged for the erection
of looms in his capital, and now we hear of the trans-
portation by camel train of pianos, and motor cars and a
plant for wireless telegraphy through the Khaiber Pass.
For the management of all those modern industries a
staff of European engineers and mechanics is admitted
in to^ the country.
Afghanistan is perhaps to-day the most difficult country
for a missionary to enter. Not only is the Amir's written
permission necessary, but the Indian Government must
also consent, and no European is allowed to cross the
frontier without a permit. It is almost as difficult
for those who are employed by the Amir to return to
India. Even the British pohtical agent residing in
Kabul is little better than a prisoner, and hundreds of
people have been killed merely""oh suspicion of having
visited him and given reports of the doings of the Govern-
ment. Yet all these difficulties of long neglect, of politi-
cal barriers, of national jealousies, and of religious in-
tolerance, in Tibet as well as in Afghanistan, are only
a challenge to faith and are intended of God to lead us
to prayer. The evangelisation of Central Asia has in it
the glory of an apparently impossible task, but aU diffi-
culties can be surmounted by those who have faith in
God. The kingdoms and the governments of this world
have frontiers which must not be crossed, but the Gospel
of Jesus Christ has no frontier. It has never been kept
within bounds ; it has a message for the whole race, and
the very fact that there are millions of souls in Central
Asia who have never heard the message becomes the
strongest of reasons why we ^rrru^ carry it to them.
Every year we hear of further advance into these regions
of Central Asia by commerce, by travellers, and by men
202 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
of science. If they can open a way for themselves in
spite of all these difficulties, shall the ambassadors of
the Cross shrink back ? The fact that Central Asia has
for the first time a place in the prayers and faith and
enterprise of even a few Christians is a sure promise of its
final evangelisation.!
1 Owing to the fact that there are so few missionaries in the
territory treated in this section of the Report, the chief sources of
information are books bearing on different aspects of the field.
The following bibliography is in part the basis of the facts and
opinions given : —
The Statesmen's Year Book, 1909.
Ellsworth Huntington, The Pulse of Asia (New York, 1907).
David Fraser, The Marches of Hindustan (Edinburgh, 1907).
Perceval Landon, The Opening of Tibet (New York, 1905).
Dr. Susie C. Rynhart, With Tibetans in Tent and Temple (New
York, 1901).
Annie Taylor, Pioneering in Tibet.
H. G. Schneider, Working and Waiting for Tibet.
Angus Hamilton, Afghanistan (London, 1906).
Frank A. Martin, Under the Absolute Amir (New York, 1907).
Ralph P. Cobbold, Innermost Asia (London, 1900).
Sven Hedin, Through Asia, 2 volumes (London, 1898).
" Our North-West Frontier in India." — C.M.S. Review, August,
1908.
T. H. Pennell, Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier.
Younghusband, The Heart of a Continent.
Wright, Asiatic Russia, 2 volumes (London, 1903).
Current numbers of Revue du Monde Musulman (Paris).
Current numbers of The Geographical Journal (London).
Colonel S. Wingate, The Spiritual Needs of Central Asia.
Colonel S. Wingate, Some Features of Chinese Turkestan.
J. H. Edgar, The Marches of the Mantze (C.LM.).
AFRICA
The aim of this survey is to convey a fairly accurate
impression of the task remaining to be accomphshed in
the evangehsation of Africa. This aim hmits its scope
and governs its form. The size of the continent and the
variety of the conditions determining the problem in
different parts of it make any wholesale generalisations
impossible. A survey that seeks to be accurate must
necessarily offer a somewhat complex picture.
Extent. — It is a continent of enormous, extent, ranking
next to Asia, three times the size of Europe, and one-half
as large again as either North or South America. It
may be said to consist of four huge river basins — the Nile,
the Congo, the Niger, and the Zambesi, guarded on the
north-west by the vast Sahara and its enclosing mountains,
and shielded on the south by the plateau of South Africa.
But of these river basins, the Congo alone is properly so
described. Africa must rather be thought of as a
continent rimmed for the most part by a narrow, low-
lying coast, behind which rise, like a natural rampart,
with varying steepness, the slopes that encircle the inner
uplands and plateaux. From these iiplahds numerous
rivers cleave a short course for themselves to the sea. On
the other hand, some of the inland rivers fail to reach the
sea. Lake Chad is a vast fresh-water sheet which receives
the tribute of rivers, but has no outlet. The average
elevation of the land is 2300 feet above the sea, and
this elevation is an important factor in modifying the
climate of a continent, two-thirds of which lies within
the tropics.
203
204 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Population. — When we compare the area of Africa with
the size of its population, we encounter a primary con-
sideration in the task before the Church. India and China
are the two great mission fields of the world, but India
could be accommodated within the three Congo territories,
and the eighteen provinces of China within the lands
bordering on the Nile ; and yet the total population of
Africa, which may be reckoned at a hundred and eighty
millions, is only two-thirds that of India and not one-half
that of China proper. That is to say, in Africa the popula-
tion shows an average of less than fifteen to the square
mile, in China it is over two hundred and sixty. That
outstanding fact is enough to show the futility of attempt-
ing to gauge the number of workers required by an
arbitrary numerical ratio to the population. Thus one
missionary writes of the sphere in which his mission
works : " The field is as large as Germany ; its population
only amounts to a hundred thousand." The area is an
important factor.
Races. — The variety of races does not seriously affect
the general missionary problem so far as the native
population is concerned. Throughout the northern
regions of Africa the tribes are mostly of Hamitic .origin,
represented mainly by the Fellaheen of Egypt, the Berbers
of the Mediterranean Provinces, and the Tuaregs of the
desert. Intermixed with these are others of Semitic origin,
while in the north-east there is a still more recent infusion
of Arabian immigrants, who are also to be found in
growing numbers — as are also East Indians — down the
east coast. From about the fifteenth parallel north,
southward to the fifth, the pjreyalent tribes are Negroes of
the Sudanese, Nilotic, and Ethiopic groups, while the
Bantu races extend from about the fifth parallel north,
southward to Cape Colony. In the extreme south-west
there is a considerable district occupied chiefly by the
stunted Bushmen and the taller Hottentots. Mention
should also be made of several dwarf races inhabiting the
equatorial forests.
AFRICA 205
Languages. — What does, however, greatly enhance the
difficulty of missionary work is the endless subdivision of
these races into different tribal communities, dwelling
sometimes apart from, and sometimes alongside of, one
another, and still more the bewildering variety, not
merely of dialects, but of positively different languages.^
To select two illustrations from many furnished by our
correspondents, the mission field of one society is stated
to include no fewer than thirty different languages ; and
in another field, far distant from the former, two languages
are said to be required at several of their stations. A
further illustration is supplied in the Report of the British
and Foreign Bible Society. Of the 412 languages in
which they have been instrumental in circulating the
Scriptures, no fewer than 100 belong to Africa, and of
the 138 languages mentioned in the editorial report for
1907 dealing with current work, 42 belong to Africa.
Social Conditions. — Another important consideration is,
that over by far the larger part of Africa the conditions of
life are still primitive. Whatever may be said of the
native population ~in Egypt and South Africa, or in
those places along the coast which have become seats
of European civilisation and centres of trade with other
lands, the bulk of the population of Africa is immersed
in darkness. Outside of the Barbary States, Egypt
and Abyssinia, with the single exception of some
traces of Hausa literature, there is — in marked contrast
to China and India — not a single tribe with a literature ^
1 According to Mr. B. Struck of Berlin the number of African
languages and dialects is as follows : —
Sudan languages . . 264 Dialects . .111
Bantu „ . . 1S2 „ . .119
Hamitic ,, . . 47 „ . . 71
Minor ,, . . 30 „ . . 19
Languages . 523 Dialects . 320
This gives a grand total of S43 African languages and dialects.
Professor Meinhof also regards this estimate as practically correct.
* There is, of course, on the east coast some imported Moslem
literature.
206 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
or even an alphabet of its own. A superficial and im-
provident cultivation of the soil, the rearing of cattle, and
hunting provide the great majority of Africans with their
Off means of maintenance. Of special classes in the com-
munity calling for specialised missionary effort, there are
'^ none. The only distinctions that are common are those
between headmen and people, and (in many places)
between freeborn and slaves. In the more arid regions
are numerous nomad tribes, but over all the rest of Central
and Southern Africa, villages of mud walls, grass roofs
and low doors shelter the countless tribes who dwell in
them'kstlieir ancestors have done for hundreds of^^ears.
Owing to climatic conditions, or by reason of tribal
customs, such as those connected with the death of a
chief, these villages disappear, leaving not a trace behind,
and new villages spring up elsewhere (Stewart, Dawn in
the Dark Continent, p. 13). Polygamy is almost universal.
Slave raiding, inter-tribal wars and cruel superstitions
have through long years preyed upon the life of Africa,
and left its population reduced, divided, suspicious.
Slave raiding has now through European influence been
almost suppressed, and only exists furtively within narrow
limits, but in the more inaccessible districts inter-tribal
raiding still continues, and among some tribes, even
within spheres of European supervision, cannibalism is
still practised. The evangelisation of Africa means some-
thing more than the introduction of the Gospel into
existing forms of social life. It means the introduction
^ of education and letters, of agriculture and industries, of
Christian marriage, and of due recognition of the sanctity
of human life and of property. The problem before the
Church is the creation of a Christian African civilisation.
Religions. — Intimately allied with the social condition
of the people are their religions. Apart from the results
of missions and colonisation, three religions are at home
in Africa. Christianity is one. It has survived from
Apostolic times among the Copts of Egypt and in the
Ethiopic Church of Abyssinia. Its adherents may be
AFRICA 207
reckoned as numbering about four millions. But these
Christian communities have long ceased to be missionary.^
While there has been in recent years a certain renascence
in the Egyptian Church, it must be confessed with sorrow
that the Christianity extant in Abyssinia has deteriorated
into a corrupt formalism aggravated by ignorance and
superstition, and so ineffective that there is a continual
drifting of its membership into Mohammedanism.
The second is Islam, persistent, active, and aggressive.
It dominates Africa on its western half as far south as
10° N. latitude, and on its eastern half as far south as 5° N.;
and it is ever pushing its conquests beyond its own
territory, not only down the east coast, but into the
interior, and by sporadic efforts as far south as Cape
Colony and to the tribes on the west coast. Every v,
Mohammedan trader is a propagandist. It is by no
means a convinced or staunch Mohammedanism which is
thus covering Africa. It wins the adherence of the
Pagans by associating them with a recognised religion
and investing them with a higher social status, while it i*^
sanctions polygamy and imposes no moral or spiritual
obligations that are unwelcome to the unregenerate hearty'
It is also a gasspoH to Government employment, Ih
some districts, even under British rule, no native can be
enlisted in the native forces or among the subordinate
agents of the administration unless he becomes a Moham-
medan. The number of Moslems may be reckoned at
between fifty and sixty millions, and they are daily increas-
ing. The ubiquitous and rapid advance of Islam is the
great challenge to urgency in the evangelisation of Africa.
The third religion is that congeries of tribal beliefs
and practices summed up under the names of Animism
and Fetichism. Without any sacred books or common
organisation, and varying in each tribe, in some associated
with worthier ideas, in others with cruel and foul customs,
in all subjecting the people to the terrors of superstition
and the oppressive tyrannies of witchcraft, they hold in
thrall some ninety millions of the inhabitants. Their
opposition to Christianity is of..the.._weakest ; it has
208 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
nothing in it of the pride or fanaticism of Islam, and
opposes no adamantine social barrier such as that of caste
in India. "Its very misery makes it welcome relief;
its utter darkness makes it glad of light." There are,
indeed, vested interests of darkness to be overcome, but
the field is one where, as in Uganda and Livingstonia,
rapid and widespread triumphs of the Gospel are possible.
It is a shame to the Churches of Christendom that they
have not anticipated the Powers of Europe in a partition
of Africa for the bringing of its millions into the Kingdom
of Christ.
Governments. — We come thus upon another important
factor in the existing situation. Politically Africa has
become an appanage of Europe. Leaving out of view the
self-governing"Union of South Africa under the British
flag, the only independent States are the Republic of
Liberia, the Kingdom of Abyssinia and the Kingdom of
Morocco, but their united territory does not amount to
a twentieth part of Africa, and over and about each of
them falls the shadow of European influence. France
claims as her sphere of influence not less than a third of
Africa. If Egypt and the Egyptian Sudan be reckoned
as under British supervision, Britain claims another third.
Germany claims a twelfth, Belgium a twelfth, and
Portugal, Italy, and Spain another twelfth between them.
But this partition of Africa among European Powers has
by no means brought its vast territory under European
law and authority. It is only a compact among the
Powers themselves to recognise the right of each to
extend its rule and administration over the sphere
allotted to it ; and no Power has succeeded in
establishing its administration over the whole of the
territory claimed by it. Where seats of administration
have been planted, the authority of the European Power
has made itself felt in the modification of native laws and
the limiting of the powers of the native chiefs ; and the
extension of this controlling and readjusting supremacy
is continually going forward. But there are immense
AFRICA 209
tracts where the only authority on the spot is still the
old authority of the native kings and of the chiefs, and
Hae only laws are those of ancient custom and of native
despotism. At the same time, there is everywhere a
consciousness of impending subjection to foreign rule.
Unhappily it cannot be said that the object of this foreign
domination of Africa is, in the first instance or even
directly, the good of Africa. Indirectly beneficial results
have followed, as, for example, through the treaties sup-
pressing the ^lav^J:rade, prohibiting the importation of
firearms, and prohibiting or restricting the trade in
intoxicating liquors. But the primary aim in the annexa-
tions of African territory has been the tapping of new
sources of wealth and the opening of a larger market to the
trade of the world ; and the lamentable fact is that the
tendency in the local representatives of these foreign
governments, not excepting the British Government (all of
them professedly Christian), is to facilitate and encourage
the acceptance of the Mohammedan religion, and to
restrict, and in some cases to prevent, the propagation
of Christianity. It is a disgrace to British rule in tropical
Africa that it should anywhere favour Islam and dis-
courage the extension of Christian missions.
Accessibility. — Apart from hindrances interposed by
Government, how far are the tribes accessible to Christian
enterprise ? Before answering this question, it is only
fair to state that while in Egypt and the Egyptian Sudan
the restrictions imposed by Government are based chiefly
on the fear of exciting Mohammedan fanaticism to violent
outbreaks, yet both there and in other parts the European
administrators consider that they must hold themselves
charged with responsibility for the lives of Europeans
settling in the interior. Hence they are unwilling to
allow foreigners to reside in districts over which an effective
control has not yet been established, and which, in the
absence of such control, they deem to be perilous. There
is no doubt that a new peril (as well as a new difficulty)
has been created for missionaries through the advent of
COM. I. — 14
210 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
white traders not under the influence of Christianity,
who have produced upon the minds of the natives an
impression and induced an attitude unfavourable to the
white man's rehgion. Except through the prohibitions
of Christian governments there is practically no part of
Africa shut against the true missionary. The records
of missionary travel from Krapf and Livingstone down to
Grenfell prove this, and it is only right to add that the
introduction of European authority and enterprise has
in many ways facilitated access both into regions already
explored and to many districts which have still to be
explored. The great waterways of Africa which for
centuries hardly gave access to more than its margin have
now been turned to account. The barriers obstructing
the full and free use of them have been overcome by
local railways ; flotillas of steamers have been launched
upon various reaches of the great rivers and on many of
the great lakes. Railways are being pushed forward into
the interior. Rhodesia is reached not only by the railway
from Cape Town, but also from Beira in Portuguese East
Africa. The Cape to Cairo railway has now touched the
northern frontier of North- West Rhodesia and is passing
on through Belgian territory ; and the railway from Cairo
is now open to Khartum, with steamer connection to
Gondokoro, iioo miles farther south. Lake Victoria
Nyanza is linked by a railway to Mombasa on the east
coast, and railways are projected from the east coast
also to Lake Nyasa and Lake Tanganyika. In almost
every colony on the western,^ as well as on the eastern,
coast, railways have been or are being built to facilitate
intercourse with the interior. Moreover^ in all the
protectorates under enterprising administration, the con-
struction of good roads is being diligently prosecuted.
By all these the task of Christian missions is immensely
facilitated, but aside from the highway of the river or the
railway or the Government road, the greater part of the
^ Along the west coast of Africa there are at least nineteen
railways, none of which as yet exceeds four hundred miles in
length.
AFRICA 211
unevangelised field is accessible only by long and weary
marching through bush or forest or tropical savannah
or arid scrubland. Great doors are open, great fields
accessible, but the evangelisation of the districts within
those fields demands as a rule much toilsome itineration.
When we proceed now to a survey of mission work in
Africa, and of the tasks before it, we must needs deal
with this vast continent in sections. Having regard to
the political, geographical, racial and religious considera-
tions involved, we can hardly divide Africa into fewer
than seven — or if Madagascar be reckoned separately,
eight — great mission fields. We begin our survey with
North Africa, that vast expanse of territory reaching
from the Mediterranean to the farthest western extremity
of the continent and below its farthest eastern extremity
— a territory which has for centuries been dominated by
Islam. It naturally divides, however, into two sections.
I. NORTH-EAST AFRICA
Egypt, Abyssinia, Egyptian Sudan, Somaliland
First in order comes North-East Africa. In respect of
its history and importance, together with the com-
plexities and contrasts of the existing situation, it is of
primary interest. It comprises the whole Nile Valley
as far south as the Protectorate of British East Africa,
with the provinces of the Egyptian Sudan to the west, and
Somaliland and Abyssinia on the east. It is a territory
larger than the whole of Europe, excluding Russia, But
amid the varying estimates of the population, we can
hardly place the total higher than twenty millions. The
larger part of this territory, including all to the west of
the Nile, is under the joint rule of Egypt and Britain.
The larger part of Somaliland to the east is an Italian
protectorate having an area double that of Italy, while
on the Red Sea there is the Italian colony of Eritrea with
an area equal to four-fifths of Italy. Between Eritrea
and the British Coast Protectorate of Somaliland is
'-^^
212 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
situated the smaU Protectorate of French Somaliland,
which is important, however, as containing the harbour
terminus of the railway running inland to Abyssinia,
Abyssinia is an independent kingdom, and its authority
extends southward over the Galla tribes without any very
definite boundary between it and the authority of Italy.
The density of the population is, of course, largely
determined by the degree of fertility in the various centres.
Somaliland is comparatively barren, and among its
inhabitants are migratory tribes whose movements are
determined by the need of water and pasture for their
cattle ; there the population only averages two or three
to the square mile. Even in the Italian colony of Eritrea
it is only slightly over five to the square mile. Abyssinia
proper is for the most part a high tableland where the
fertihty and general conditions of life are more favourable,
and there the population averages at least twenty-five
to the square mile. Bahr-el-Ghazal is said to be the most
fertile province in the Egyptian Sudan, but taking the
Sudan as a whole (that is, the whole Egyptian territory
outside of Egypt proper), the average population may be
taken roughly at two per square mile. Ten milhons of
the total population are found in Egypt proper, and nearly
all of it within the limited area described as " settled."
The variety of races is great. The prevalent type is, of
course, the Nilotic negro, but there is in Egypt and the
lower Sudan a large admixture of Arabs with those of
Nubian and Ethiopic descent. Beyond Abyssinia, in
the regions of the sources of the Nile, there is a remarkable
variety of tribes too numerous to mention.
With regard to religion, it may be said generally that
Mohammedanism prevails from the Mediterranean to
150 miles south of Khartum, with a Coptic Church
existing in its centre ; and that paganism prevails from
that point southward, with a corrupt form of Christianity
^1 ii abounding in Abyssinia, and an infiltration of Moham-
'* ,, > medanism ever going on. In Abyssinia, Mohammedanism
^■■'■' is officially recognised as well as Christianity, and the
f testimony from the Swedish Mission in Eritrea is to the
Ih/'
AFRICA 213
effect that there is a continualjaj)^^ of professing Christians * ^
to Islam. A significant factor in the situation is the
great Mohammedan University, Al Azhar, at Cairo. With
its 10,000 students gathered from all parts of Africa and
even from distant countries in Asia, it may be regarded
as constituting Cairo the intellectual capital of the
Mohammedan world. Here is the fountain-head of its
scholastic training, and, to a limited extent, of its
propaganda.
The Christian propaganda in the section under review
is most inadequate. The Coptic Church, though its life
has become purer and stronger than formerly, has not
yet awakened to its evangelistic obligations toward the
surrounding Mohammedans.
The American United Presbyterian Mission entered
Egypt in 1854 and, besides its excellent work among the
Copts, is doing a good work among Moslems. Several
thousands of Moslem boys and girls, many of them from
the higher classes of society, attend the mission schools.
Stations have been opened in the Delta, where the
population is distinctly Mohammedan, and medical,
educational and colportage work are enabling the
Mission to reach the Moslems with gratifying results.
In i882,with the British occupation, the Church Missionary
Society began work for Moslems in Cairo and there are
now a few other societies also at work in Egypt.
In all the Mohammedan region outside of Egypt
proper the British Government practically prohibits
aggressive work from fear of arousing Mohammedan -
fanaticism. Hence the few British or American
nilssionaries who have been allowed locations in
Khartum and Omdurman are sorely fettered. The
policy of the Government in this respect is in absolute
contradiction to the teaching of experience, as shown by
the influence of Christian medical missions among the
fanatical Mohammedans of North-West India. Per-
mission, however, has been given by the Government to
missionaries to pass on to the pagan tribes farther
south. The American United Presbyterian Church
214 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
has begun work among the Shullas on the Sobat River, and
the Church Missionary Society among the Dinkas, some
two hundred miles farther south. The Swedish Mission
has been bravely endeavouring for more than two decades
to reach the heathen tribes in Abyssinia, but has found
its principal field within the Italian colony of Eritrea,
where it has six stations, and more than that number of
ordained missionaries. The field here is fairly open, but
difficulties are created by the Government's use of
Amharic and Arabic as official languages, instead of
the commonly spoken Tigre ; and the fear is expressed
thut' further extension may soon be prohibited owing
to the growing influence of Islam. It has also an agent
resident at Adis-Abeba in Abyssinia, whose work, how-
ever, is carried on mainly among the Gallas. There is a
ready entrance for the Christian evangel, but the fanatical
opposition of the debaseH^ priests of the Abyssinian Church
and the drastic punishments inflicted by Abyssinian
authorities on any one suspected of favouring another
form of Christianity are great hindrances.
It is manifest that the number of missionaries required
to occupy the strategic centres in this great territory must
be reckoned not by tens, but by hundreds. Of primary
importance is the removal of the restrictions laid by the
British Government upon Christian missions, or at least,
in the first instance, a relaxation of them so as to allow
of a judicious and progressive advance. The experience
of missions amongst the pagan tribes, though limited and
recent, coincides with the experience of missions in other
parts of Africa that the Christian school and itineration,
as well as industrial and medical missions, are the methods
which can in the first instance be used with greatest
advantage. As regards the Mohammedans, there is
amongst them an increase of education which gives
additional importance and value to the circulation of
suitable Christian literature such as is being issued from
the'Kile Mission Press.
AFRICA 215
II. NORTH-WEST AFRICA
The Mediterranean States and the Sahara
We have to look next at the great Mohammedan field
lying to the west of a line drawn from Lake Chad north-
ward to the east of Tripoli, and to the north of a line
curving westward from Lake Chad to beyond the Niger,
and then bending northward to the south-east corner of
Morocco. It includes the vast Sahara Desert and to the
north of it the four Mohammedan States coasting the
Mediterranean, Tripoli a dependency of Turkey, Tunis and
Algeria under the sway of France, and Morocco where the
influence of France is now ascendant. That long broad
seaboard has both an historical and a present importance.
It is the scene of the triumph of Islam over the decadent
but once flourishing Church of Tertullian, Cyprian and
Augustine, and their memory summons us to reclaim their
land for Christ. It is, together with Egypt, the_base of
Islam in Africa, so that, if we would prevent the exten-
sion of the reign of Islam in the south, we must under-
mine its foundations in the north. It is the terminus
of the trade caravans from the Sahara, so that through
these lands lies the natural highway for the Gospel to
the children of the desert. It is a region of attractive
climate, fertile in fruits and rich in minerals, attracting
residents from other lands and beginning to enter more
largely into the commerce and intercourse of nations,
so that it should no longer be left in neglect.
The population may be roughly reckoned at fourteen
millions. They are partly Semitic, Arabs (or Moors),
who came at first into the land to possess it for Islam ;
and partly Hamitic, the older inhabitants, consisting of
various tribes, the Berbers, Kabyles, etc. Arabic is
the prevalent language. In all these States there are
considerable numbers of Jews.
Mission work was only begun in this region within the
last thirty years, and is as yet represented only by a few
isolated stations and individual workers. Tripoli and the
^
216 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
district of Oran in Algeria are practically unoccupied (one
station in each), and the part of Morocco south and east
of the Atlas range is wholly unoccupied. The total
European and American force in these four States can
hardly be more than a hundred and forty, and at least
three times that number could at once be placed in the
field without arousing opposition or suspicion and without
overtaking all available openings.
The societies having the largest forces in the field are
compara,tively young, but they merit warm recognition
for advancing into a field which the older and stronger
societies had neglected. It may be that the latter would
have found more favour with the French Government.
But, in any case, it is desirable that the work in Tunis
and Algiers should be carried on more largely through
French societies or French agents, or failing that, by
American societies, which would be less liable than British
or German societies to political suspicions and jealousies
on the part of local authorities.
The field is one of special difficulty. In Morocco the
death penalty for conversion from Islam to Christianity
still holds, but both there and in the other lands under
consideration Mohammedanism is becoming less rigid.
Christlike lives have given to the Mohammedans a new
view of Christianity, and medical work and Christianity
. ^1 together have helped to disarm prejudice. The main
difficulty in Tunis and Algeria is the temper of the French
administration, which, as in Madagascar, is favourable
to rationalism, atheism and secular amusements, but
antagonistic to anything in the form of Christian pro-
paganda. Schools and meetings are forbidden. Even
for medical work within the French Protectorate, it is
necessary to have a French diploma.
Of the results of missions it is impossible to speak.
Although individuals have received Christ, many more than
. have openly confessed Him, no native Church has yet been
'if- formed. The missionaries, however, "are persuaded that a
foothold is being slowly won. Itineration and visitation,
the distribution of Scriptures and literature, such educa-
AFRICA 217
tional work as is possible, and especially medical work
wherever it is allowed, are at present the most effective
methods for carrying the message of the Gospel into
Moslem hearts and homes. The situation is urgent be-
cause growing contact with Europe is weakening the
intolerance of Islam and awaking the people to new desires
for knowledge and power such as they have not had.
South of these four States lies the vast Sahara over
which France claims sway. It is a territory larger than
all India, and is not only without a missionary, but
cannot be said even to lie within the immediate prospec-
tive of any mission. Its population may be somewhat
uncertainly estimated at over eight hundred thousand,
consisting of nomads of the desert and dwellers in its
oases and mountains. At present they can only be
reached along one or other of the recognised caravan roads,
but if the projected extension of the French railway from
Algiers to Kuka on Lake Chad should take place, it will
prepare in the desert a highway for the Gospel of Christ.
Here, then, fronting Europe, is an immense field
scarcely touched by the Gospel, where Islam offers a
tempting challenge to the Church of Christ.
In this survey of Northern Africa we have omitted one
section, namely, the region between Lake Chad and the
Egyptian Sudan. It comprises the old Sudanese kingdoms
of Wadai, Kanem, and Baghirmi, with a total population
of at least five millions, nearly all Moslems. In the
European partition of Africa they have been placed within
the French sphere of influence, but they are so difficult
of access, and so little is known of them, that we have
deemed it best to place that whole region by itself until it
shall be seen from what quarter it is to be opened to the
Gospel.
III. WESTERN AFRICA
From Senegal to Nigeria
" Western Africa " is used as possibly the most con-
venient designation for the group of colonies and pro-
218 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
tectorates facing the Atlantic and marshalled along the
shore of the Gulf of Benin. They have a coast-line of
over 3500 miles, extending from the Spanish possession of
Rio de Oro to the British possession of Nigeria. This
whole territory has an area equal to nine times that of
France, and its population probably exceeds that of
France. Along its whole range from west to east the
Mohammedanism of the Sudanese interior has penetrated
to the coast, and won to itself considerable sections
of the population. On the other hand the Christian
missions planted at various centres along the coast,
although they have exercised a Christianising influence in
their immediate neighbourhood, have failed as yet to
make any real impression on the interior. It is
only within recent years that they have begun to move
inland.
Let us look at this section in two parts — the first
environed by French territory, the second British.
I. We pass over the Spanish possession of Rio de Oro,
in which there are absolutely no missions. The French
territory to the south of it reaches across, behind the
coast colonies and protectorates, to British Nigeria, and
stretches down to the sea between the possessions of
other countries in five different sections. This large
territory, equal to three Frances, is only just touched by
Christian missions. On the Senegal River, near the
coast, there is a small mission of the Paris Society. In
French Guinea there is a Church of England Mission,
manned from the West Indies ; while at the west ex-
tremity of the Ivory Coast, and at the eastern extremity
of the Dahomey Coast, there are a few mission stations
which are really extensions of the missions in adjoining
British territory. But, with these insignificant excep-
tions, the whole of this French territory, with its nine
millions of people, and Portuguese Guinea, with nearly
an additional million, contain only some forty Roman
Catholic stations, with rather more than double that
number of priests, and are untouched by other missions.
Both Senegal and Konakry, with railways penetrating
AFRICA 219
to the Upper Niger, are suggested as appropriate starting-
points for missions to the French Sudan.
There are three British possessions within this region —
Gambia, consisting of a stretch of land bordering the
river Gambia, with a population of a hundred and sixty
thousand, and one small (Wesleyan) evangelical mission ;
Sierra Leone, with a population of about one and three-
quarter millions, which may, in comparison with other
fields, be regarded as fairly well staffed with Europeans,
if only there were an adequate supply of native agents ;
and the Gold Coast, with a population of one and a half
millions, where the European staff is proportionately
smaller. Both on the Gold Coast and in the Ashanti
hinterland the Basel and the Wesleyan Societies are
carrying on a healthy and promising work.
Between Sierra Leone an^ the Ivory Coast lies the
independent State of Liberia. It is sometimes spoken of
as a Christian State, but is more largely Mohammedan.
Three-quarters of its territory are still untouched by
Christian missions, but if there were comity and co- .
operation, an effective 'occupation of the land could be ^i^'Z^
accomplished by dividing it into ten districts with five
missionaries in each. The moral decline which is apparent ^^^^^^
in educational and official circles and through public
advocacy of polygamy_are^.a. summons to a more effective
Christian propaganda.
Close by the Gold Coast, and separated by Dahomey
from Nigeria, is Togo, a German Colony of growing
importance. It has a population of a million, chiefly
Evhes. Because of the difficulty of the language spoken
by the Evhes, the missionaries have found it practically
impossible to master^HotEer~and so have been hindered
from addressing themselves to the Hausas, who are also
found in large numbers in this colony. Missionary work
is being wisely and energetically forwarded by the North "
German Society, but its farthest out-station hardly
reaches the centre of the province^ and the two northern
districts are closed by the Government against mission
work until the railway is extended. In this colony the
220 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
European stations ^nd workers require to be at least
doubled, with a trebling of native workers.
Of this whole region, then, it may be said generally
that in Sierra Leone and Liberia the principal need is that
of effective co-operation and better distribution of the
missionary forces. The native Churches which have been
gathered are numerically large enough, if only they were
filled with the Spirit, united in enterprise, and wisely led,
to supply a native agency sufficient for the evangelisation
of these lands. But in the Gold Coast and Togo there is
required at least a doubling or trebling of the missionary
staff before the foreign and the native forces combined
can become adequate for the carrying of the Gospel to
the whole field, while in the French and Portuguese ter-
ritories, constituting three- fourths of the whole, there is
practically a virgin field for evangelical missions, if only
the Government would permit the establishment of such
missions within their borders.
2. The second part of the district with which we are
. now dealing is the British territory of Nigeria. It com-
prises the lower and more important part of the Niger
River basin as well as the greater part of the river basin
of its tributary, the Benue River, together with the
valleys sloping toward Lake Chad. In this district we
have in the coastal regions some of the oldest and most
developed fruits of African missions, and in the interior
some of the newesLand most important openings among
new peoples. Nigeria is under two separate administra-
tions— northern and southern. Northern Nigeria may be
described as the British section of that hinterland ., of
Western Africa included in the Sudan, and is ethnologic-
ally a most interesting field. Covering a territory equal
to six times the area of England and Wales, and with a
population of twelve to fifteen millions, it is divided into
seventeen Government provinces, in five of which the
Church Missionary Society is at work, other missions
being also at work in one or other of the same provinces.
About two-thirds of the field is absolutely untouched.
,J^.^ To man two evangelistic centres in each of the seventeen
AFRICA 221
provinces would require at least forty-eight missionaries
and double that number of natives, v/hile at present
there are in all only thirty-four male missionaries, and
these very unequally distributed. The country is now
more largely Mohammedan than Pagan, and the Moham-
medans are steadily pushing into Pagan districts ; while
the British Government unfortunately prohibits the
evangelisation of Mohammedans, and is at present ex-
cluding missionaries from Pagan districts into which the
Mohammedans have access. From three of the pro-
vinces, containing half the population, mission work is
meanwhile excluded. Only a small proportion of the
people can read, and the only Scriptures available are
portiohs^'orthe New Testament in the Hausa and Nupe
languages, while there are two principal and some twenty-
three lesser languages into which no Scripture is yet
translated.
In Southern Nigeria, which now includes Lagos as well
as the former Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, we have
a territory equal to two and a half Scotlands, with a
population which the most recent Government estimate
places at seven and a half millions, but which, according
to missionary estimates, must be much larger. The
tropical climate obliges frequent furloughs on the part of
Europeans, and this has proved a hindrance to the con-
tinuity of all missionary work. In the centre of the
colony is the Niger Delta, where the largest share of
evangelistic work is done by the Niger Delta Pastorate,
a native ecclesiastic organisation, independent and self-
supporting, but under the supervision of an English bishop.
To the west in Lagos, and in the Yoruba country behind it,
the Church Missionary Society and the Wesleyans are at
work, and on the Cross River to the east there is a chain
of Presbyterian stations, with the Irish Qua Iboe Mission
and the Primitive Methodist Mission to the west of them.
In connection with all these missions there are well-
established native Churches, but none of them has moved
away from the coastal regions or the river highways,
while in the adjacent regions, particularly on the west
222 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
side of the Niger, and also in the whole region north of
the Cross River to the Benue River, there are fields that
are practically unevangelised and much of them even
unexplored. So far as tribes in these inland regions have
been visited, they are found to be of the Bantu stock, of
larger and manlier build than those on the coast, and
friendly with the Hausas who move down inland routes
into Kamerun and the Congo. East of the Niger,
Ibo is the prevalent language. The country is being
opened up by the Government, but missions, to quote the
expression of one missionary, " creep after it like snails
after an express train." The result is that in newly
opened districts the advent of the white man is not
associated with a revelation of the Gospel, but with
superior force and commercial revolution, making the
introduction of European administration the more un-
welcome and the evangelisation of the people the more
difficult. In the settled parts contiguous to mission
operations, there is a constant demand for more teachers.
To take advantage of favourable openings now offering
would require at least an immediate trebling of the staff.
Here, as elsewhere, the hindrances to extension hitherto
have been partly difficulty of access but chiefly the paucity
of workers.
In the Spanish island of Fernando Po, south of the
Cross River estuary and west of Kamerun, the Primitive
Methodist Church has since 1870 carried on a mission
which, in view of the degraded character of the people,
has had remarkable success.
IV. SOUTH-WEST AFRICA
From Kamerun to N amaqtialand
We pass now into the Bantu area, and in this section
we group together the colonial possessions of five Con-
tinental Powers.
I. The first is the German possession of Kamerun,
which lies immediately to the east of Nigeria,
AFRICA 223
equal in size to nine-tenths of the German Empire,
with a population estimated at four millions. It
contains the highest mountains on the west coast, some
rising to 14,000 feet, and this occasions a very heavy
rainfall in the wet season. There are numerous Bantu
tribes in the southern part of the colony, but the upper
is Sudanese. Work was begun in the coastal district
by the English Baptists, but after the German annexation
it was transferred mainly into the hands of the J3.asel
Mission, and partly also into the hands of the German
Baptists. Farther south there is an American Presby-
terian Mission. All these missions, however, are confined
as yet to the south-west, fully seven-eighths of the land
being absolutely untoudlfifiL '
The great Congo section of Africa, a section having
a much larger area than that of India, but only about
a sixth of its population, is distributed under four
European nations.
2. At the extreme north-west is the Spanish section,
a small territory of some 9000 square miles, with one
small American Mission at work in it.
3. Next comes the French Congo, occupying the district
between the Atlantic, Kamerun, and the west bank of the
Congo River. Its area is equal to two and a half times
the area of France, and it has a population variously
estimated at from eight to fifteen millions. Mission
work was begun here by the American Presbyterians,
who, after the acquisition of the land by France, handed
over their two stations to the Paris Society, which has
since established two other principal stations. These
stations are placed along the navigable part of the Ogowe,
and reach only 250 miles from the coast. They touch
several tribes, of which the most important is the
Fan tribe, and M. Allegret remarks that if this tribe
could be won for Christianity, it would form a strong
bulwark against the advance of Islam. How vast is
the work waiting to be done in the field now open,
may be judged from an estimate made by a missionary
224 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
on the spot, that i8o European missionaries would
be required to make an effective advance from the
present base, and the same number to make an advance
from the Congo River base. The whole of the vast
interior is absolutely unreached. The hindrance has
been lack of men and means. The advance of com-
merce into the interior, the southward spread of Islam,
and the possibility of an atheistic attitude on the part
of the Government, constitute the dangers ahead, but
at present the way is open for advance if the Church
were strong enough to undertake it.
4. Belgian Congo, or the Congo Free State, although it
has only twenty miles of sea-board, comprises an immense
territory, chiefly within the left bank of the great sweep
of the Congo, in all 900,000 square miles, equal to about
eighty Belgiums. Its population of thirty millions
(nearly all Bantus, although there are Nilotic Negroes
on the River Welle and tribes of Pigmies in the dense
forests of the interior), the rich products of its soil
and its mineral wealth, together with the opportunities
of commerce furnished by 9500 miles of navigable water-
ways, indicate the importance of this field. Since the
enthusiasm awakened by Stanley's sail down the Congo,
missionary effort has not been wanting, and the early
professions of King Leopold with regard to the founding
of the Free State seemed to invite it. But the beginnings
of the missionary enterprise were inadequate both in plan
and in energy to the conditions requiring to be met.
The climate proved very fatal. Stations were planted
without being sufficiently manned, and mistakes of
ignorance and of the inexperience of youth retarded
success. Some of the tribes have proved open to Gospel
influences, others apparently impenetrable.
At present we can recognise four different bases of
operations. First, in the lower Congo we find a con-
siderable number of missionary stations, belonging
mainly to the English and American Baptists, the work
of the Swedish Society being particularly well organised.
Then, besides other mission stations up the river, we have
AFRICA 225
the Balolo Mission on the left bank of the Congo, within its
bend, and the American Baptist Mission on the right bank.
Farther south, in the Kasai Valley, is the mission of
the American Southern Presbyterians, which claims to
be the only mission in an area of 90,000 square miles,
And finally there is Arnot's Mission to the far east of the
colony beside Lake Mweru.
The progress made in spite of enormous difficulties has
been great, but the difficulties seem to be increasing
rather than diminishing^ The sleeping sickness is slaying
thousands. The awful_cruelties inflicted^.b^^ Belgian
of&cials in the interests of commercial gain made the
incofmrig of the outer world seem more of a curse than
of a blessing. They threatened to make a stable, peace-
ful and hopeful social life impossible. Missionary labour
also was crippled. Sites were persistently refused by
the Government, even for the humblest buildings, and
the adherents of Protestant Missions were subjected to
persecution. Recent changes in the Belgian Government
warrant a better hope for the future. At the same time
the natives have come to a thorough ^understanding of
the difference between the missionaries and the official
whites, and if the administration of The Congo should now
be placed upon an equitable basis, there is every reason
to anticipate a favoruable reception in all directions for
the representatives of the Gospel. The language diffi-
culties, however, have not yet been met.
5. The most southern section is Angola, or Portuguese
Congo, a district including about half a million square
miles, or an area equal to fourteen Portugals, which, at an
estimate of fifteen inhabitants to the square mile, yields
a population of over seven millions. The people are
scattered over the land in communities of from fifty to
five hundred in groups of kraals, and the distance of these
communities from each other makes it difficult — some
say impossible — for the missionary to overtake his dis-
trict. Mission work is carried on from three centres — in
St. Salvador in the north, in the Loanda district, and in
the Benguella, with fair success. But new hindrances
COM. I. — 15
226 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
are emerging. Rum is being rapidly pushed through the
country by while traders, aii'd this and the vices of the
white men are tending to the degradation of the natives,
while the fact that the whites are superseding them as
traders with the interior is reducing the natives to
poverty. The attitude of the Government hitherto has
been generally tolerant, if not kindly, towards mission-
aries, but quite recently the anti-slavery agitation has
kindled resentment against them. A country so sparsely
populated requires a proportionately larger staff of
missionaries in order to occupy effectively the larger
number of centres necessary for reaching the whole
population. Needless to say, there are extensive dis-
tricts into which the Gospel has never yet been carried.
6. The German colony of South-West Africa, though
having an area equal to one and a half times that of the
German Empire, presents to missionary enterprise a popu-
lation of only a little over two hundred thousand. The
long coast-line of miles is infertile ; the eastern districts
merge into the Kalahari Desert ; the southern extremity
is also comparatively barren ; and it is chiefly in the
central districts that agriculture and industries are found.
The resources of the colony, however, admit of larger
development and of a much larger population. The
field is well occupied by the Rhenish Society, which has
stations in the Herero or Damaraland in the centre and
in Namaqualand in the south, while the Finnish Society
by friendly arrangement with the Rhenish Society has
undertaken the principal part of the work in Ovampoland
in the north, five of the tribes in the north being cared for
by the Finnish Society, and four by the Rhenish. These
tribes are separated from each other by belts of bush
or desert of varying breadth. Of the tribes assigned to
the Finnish Society, two, numbering about twenty-five
hundred, are still unreached. The difficulties of mission
work arise from the scattered nature of the population,
and from the radical difference of the Nama language,
spoken by the Namas and by the larger tribe of the Hill
Damas, from the Otyherero, which is the leading language
AFRICA 227
in the southern district and akin to the other languages
spoken. At nearly all the stations both languages are
now required. The steps taken after the suppression
of the recent rising by the Hereros have proved favour- .
able to missfon work, as the Hereros have been deprived
both of their cattle and of their chieftaincies, and gathered v^
into settlements where they are more easily reached.
The present time is peculiarly favourable for ingathering.
With the addition of one or two stations and educational
institutions the field might be regarded as adequately -^
occupied. *
v. SOUTH AFRICA
The Union of South Africa, along with Basuto- and Swazi-
land
Along the whole west coast of Africa we have been
surveying territories under the colonial administration
of European Powers. We have now to look at a territory,
formerly divided into two British colonies and two
independent republics, but now under the rule of a local
and'^^ihdependent, but still non-African, Government
within the British Empire. This is the Union of South
Africa, and along with the Union we must take the
two native territories of Basutoland and Swaziland, as
geographically they are enclosed within it. The total
area is equal to four times that of the United Kingdom,
and within it we have the oldest, the most fully occupied,
and the most largely Christianised of the mission fields
of the Church in Africa. But on this field a whole series
of difficulties emerges out of the juxtaposition and
partial intermingling of white and coloured races ; the
latter number roughly four and a half millions and the
former only a million. The Government, of course, is
in the hands of the Europeans, but in the native locations
the authority and administration of the native chiefs
still hold under certain restrictions and continual super-
vision. Despite superior numbers and growing qualifica-
tions, natives are by the very fact of African descent
228 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
excluded from the legislature, and the franchise is limited
to a specially quahfied section of natives in Cape Colony.
The purpose of the Europeans to make South Africa the
home of a white nation and to utilise its resources, as far
as practicable, for the benefit of this nation, and over
against this the growth and educational progress and
ambitions of the natives, create a situation peculiarly con-
ducive to racial antipathies, jealousies, and antagonisms,
which only the Gospel of Christ is able to overcome.
In accordance with the object of this survey,
however, we exclude from our purview as. far_as
h' possible the Churches of the whites, and fix our
attention specially on the four and a half millions, or
thereabouts, of native tribes of various names. Without
entering on historical reasons, including migrations of
tribes, for the present missionary situation, we have to
face the broad fact that there are in the district under
consideration about thirty different missionary organisa-
tions at work, and that in the almost unanimous judg-
ment of" bur missionary correspondents, the number of
European missionaries in the field would be adequate
for the work, if only they were properly distributed and
., were properly seconded by efficient native workers.
"^ Alihost all the correspondents bewail the extent of over-
lapping, which has a prejudicial influence on the attitude
of the natives affected by it, and tends to neutralise
that wise and careful discipline which is so necessary in
the upbuilding of a native Church. The other result of
this excessive concentration of agencies in particular
districts is that other districts are left without the preach-
ing of the Gospel. Indeed, there is hardly any mission
which cannot tell of districts larger or smaller adjoining
the area covered by its operations, which are still wholly
heathen and without any effective evangelistic agency.
Prominence must also be given to the fact that not a few
eminent missionaries express their sense of the urgency
of a definite agreement among missionary organisations to
readjust the distribution of their forces in South Africa
so as not to be thrown into competition with one another.
AFRICA 229
but to cover the whole field in co-operative brotherhood.
This is to be done not only through consolidation on
the field, such as might be undertaken by the General
Missionary Conference, but by conference also between
administrative powers at home. Principal Henderson
says, " Without co-operation the struggle against heathen-
ism cannot be carried to a successful issue."
Another pressing need on which emphasis is laid is that
of special training of evangelists and of native ministers. ^^ .-^
Education is 'spreading and will spread farther, but in
order to secure the necessary preparatiori_ of educated ''^^
youth of both sexes for the service of Christ in the work
of evangelisation and of instructing and building up the ^
native Church, there must be a larger rheasure of co-
operation in providing the special seminaries required.
It is in this direction apparently that the chief counter-
active is to be found to the mischief of Ethiopianism.
Sects founded on the idea of independence from European
guidance and the self-sufficiency of the African are spread-
ing through the country a superficial and largely emotional
form of Christianity, unable to resist the disintegrating
and corrupting influences of surrounding heathenism.
Among other adverse influences are the prejudices
against the Christianity of the European which are kindled
byTacial antagonism, by resentment at law^s which in-
terfere with native customs, and by the consciousness on
the part of the heathen chiefs that their old authjodty .i^^^
is likely to depart from them with the changes in prospect. /_
There is also a certain Moslem propaganda in Cape Colony, 5Hsu.
to which the conditions of the situation are not un-
favourable. Testimony is also borne to the debasing c-_^
influence of the^ming centres on native character and
life.- "
On the other hand the field is more open to^ggressive
work than it has ever been, and the cruciaTquestiori is
simply whether the missionary bodies at work in South :^
Africa will readjust their operations so as to secure an
effective occupation of the whole field and will co-operate
toward the preparation of a thoroughly qualffied native^
230 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
evangelistic agency and pastorate. It is also a question
whether the unevangelised native locations should not
now be regarded as the home mission field of the Churches
in the Union. To this question the Wesleyans have
given a practical answer in the affirmative.
VI. SOUTHERN CENTRAL AFRICA
Five British Protectorates
Five British Protectorates are located in the centre of
the southern lobe of the continent — Bechuanaland,
Southern, North-Western and Northern Rhodesia, and
Nyasaland. They cover a territory equaljtq tea^-United
Kingdoms, but the native population hardly exceeds
two and a quarter millions, while the additional white
population is very limited except in Southern Rhodesia,
where it may be reckoned at about fifteen thousand. The
vast Kalahari Desert stretches over a large part of the
three first-named Protectorates ; this, of course, is the
main cause of the small ratio of the population to the area.
In Bechuanaland, with an area of 386,200 square miles,
the ratio is considerably less than one to the square mile
— that is to say, that three-fourths of the surface is
barren, and that the various tribes under Khama and
other well-known chiefs occupy only the eastern lands.
Among the two hundred thousand of a population six
missions are at work. Of necessity there is overlapping,
and the attempt to occupy and hold positions against
competitive missions absorbs energy that should be
directed to Christianising an unoccupied district. Through
the determined action of the chiefs, the sale of drink is
prohibited by law in this Protectorate.
Southern Rhodesia, including the districts of Mata-
beleland and Mashonaland, has a population of about
six hundred thousand natives, chiefly Matabele. But its
south-western region is inhabited by the fairer Banyai,
among whom the Dutch Reformed Church is at work.
The fine climate of that high water-shed region and its
AFRICA 231
rich resources have attracted a large European settlement.
To these attractions, together with the advantages of
easy access and of British rule, is also no doubt due the
incoming of new missions, which have in some cases dis-
regarded the principles of missionary comity, with the
result of partial overlapping and ineffective occupation.
Among the hindrances to mission work, in addition to
others of general application, one missionary notes the
fact that many natives are resident on private lands,
whose owners will not allow the evangelisation of their
tenants, and that the permission of local chiefs is necessary
in order to evangelise in the native locations.
In North-West Rhodesia, where the kingdom of Barotse-
land is located, and where the population is estimated
at three hundred thousand, there is the well-known work
of the Paris Missionary Society, inaugurated by Coillard,
and the more recent work of the Methodists, which by
friendly arrangement occupies separate districts. The
number of missionaries is insufficient to man adequately
and continuously the existing stations, but if this want
were met, and if a few more stations were planted,
particularly to the north, the field might be said to be fairly
well occupied. There is, however, a lack — a serious lack —
of efficient native helpers. The social revolution which
has taken place among the Barotse since the advent of the
mission, and even prior to the introduction of European
supervision, has been immense, but the actual Christian
community is still very small, and lacking in the qualities
necessary for effective and reliable evangelism. The
schools are the hope of the mission.
North-East Rhodesia has a special interest as the scene
of the last labours and death of Livingstone. It is a
province about the size of the United Kingdom, but with
a population of only three hundred and fifty thousand.
The principal mission work has been done by the London
Missionary Society in the district immediately soiitH of
Lake Tanganyika among the Awemba tribe. That work
has been carried on amid many difficulties, and latterly
among changes and depressions caused by the scourge
232 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
of the sleeping sickness, and, though what has been
acliieved is comparatively small, it has much promise
for the future. The Livingstonia Mission has also ex-
tended its labour from Angoniland into the Chitambo
district, in order to evangelise the sparse population of
the swampy flats surrounding the monument which marks
the sacred spot where Livingstone's heart is buried. The
community around that spot should surely be sought for
Christ.
The Protectorate of Nyasaland, embracing both banks
of the Shire River and the district along the western shore
of Lake Nyasa, though only one-third of the size of North-
East Rhodesia, contains a population of nearly a million,
and is well occupied by a variety of missions — the Church
of Scotland Mission, the Zambesi Industrial Mission, the
Baptist Industrial Mission, and others, in the Shire district ;
the Dutch Reformed Church to the south-west of the
lake ; and the United Free Church of Scotland along the
whole western shore ; while the Universities' I\lission
labours in the islands and in various spots on the eastern
and a fev/ on the western shores. The strategic points of
the field are almost all occupied. Between the older and
stronger missions there is cordial co-operation and the
practice of comity, except that the Universities' Mission
declares an obligation to follow its own converts into
territories occupied by other missions. In the Shire
Highlands there is overlapping. The Church of Scotland
Mission properly developed might have sufficed for the
population there, but seven other missions have come in,
most of them, however, trading missions, to which the
neighbourhood of a European market (Blanlyre) is an
advantage. Meanwhile the heavy populations in the
lower and upper Shire Valley are quite inadequately
cared for. In the lower Shire there is not a single mission
station, in the upper only one. In conjunction with the
Government, the various missions are developing a great
educational system throughout the Protectorate, and the
Livingstonia Institution at Kondowi may be regarded
^ as the embryo University of Ceatral.Africa. The chief
AFRICA 233
hindrances to mission work are the spread of Mohamme-
danism {e.g. the Yao tribe at the southern end of the Lake
have been Mohammedanised, and mission work amongst
them is prohibited by their chiefs), the irrehgious and
demoralising influences imported by natives returning ^.^^
from labour at the mining centres, and the growth of the ^^^^^^^
Ethiopian sentiment. /^^ ,^
VII. EAST AFRICA
Portuguese, German, British
This section must be viewed in its three parts.
I. East of the Transvaal, Rhodesia, and Nyasaland
lies the extensive territory oi Portuguese East Africa. It
has a coast-line of 1400 miles, running from Zululand
on the South to Gennan East Africa on the North, and
it reaches inland to Lake Nyasa ; it is equal in area
to nine Portugals. It has an estimated population of
3,120,000, composed of various tribes speaking quite
different languages, and is divided into three provinces,
Mozambique, Zambezia and Louren^o Marques. Almost
all the mission v/ork in this territory is found within the
most southern province. It includes a smaU Anglican
mission, under the Bishop of Lebombo, an active mission
of the Mission Romande and some v/orkers both of the
Wesleyan, the American Free Methodist and the Methodist
Episcopal Churches. There is a prospect also of work
in the Zambezia province. The Cape General Mission is
extending its operations from Port Herald on the Shire
into neighbouring Portuguese territory, and the Dutch
Reformed Church has in view the establishing of a mission
in the Portuguese territory to the north of the Zambezi
River. At present it may be said generally that the
Portuguese field to the south of the Zambezi is most
inadequately, part of it wholly, unoccupigdl, while in the
part lying to the north of the Zambezi there is as yet
practically no mission work whatever. The field is open,
and the conditions under which the Portuguese Govern-
234 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
ment allows missionary societies to enter this territory
are stated to be such as are not difficult to comply with.
This field is also comparatively neglected by the Roman
Catholic Church ; it is certainly not showing the same
aggressive enterprise here as in the more central regions
of Africa. In the two northern provinces there are vast
territories wholly without missionaries.
2. German East Africa, wliich reaches back from a
coast-line of 620 miles in length to the great Lakes of
Nyanza, Tanganyika, and Nyasa, is double the size of
the whole German Empire, oniitting Bavaria. But its
native population is reckoned only at about seven millions,
with a European population of about two thousand. The
low coastal territory slopes gradually upward by plateaux
largely covered with thin forest, and beyond these are
numerous mountain ranges, some rising to great altitudes,
while farther west the ground slopes again toward the
above-mentioned lakes. The population is mostly Bantu,
but along the coast it is mixed with incomers from
Arabia and India.
Throughout the colony the situation is critical. The
political power of the Arab Empire, having Zanzibar as
its capital, has been broken and its traffic in slaves
suppressed, but the new conditions have given it new
opportunity and influence as a Mohammedan propaganda.
Administrative requirements and commercial enterprise
are opening up the colony. Already ope-sixth of the
population is said to be Mohammedan, and wherever the
Swaheli ^ from the coast go as artisans or in the military
or civil service of the Government, they are the bearers
of Islamic influences. The same influences are borne
also by traders along the caravan routes ; and, as the
railway from Dar-es-Salaam is extended towards the
southern end of Lake Nyanza, it will more and more
introduce into the country the influences of modern
civilisation as weU as of Islam and make the situation
stiU more difficult.
^ There is a growing Moslem literature in Swaheli, and this
language is the ruling one for all East Africa.
AFRICA 235
At the very first glance the distribution of missions in
this great territory strikes one as having been providenti-
ally ordered for the ultimate conquest of the land. They
are remote from one another, some still in their infancy,
most of them feeble, and, save in one district, miserably
inadequate ; but they are planted, speaking roughly
at the four comers of the land and in two central positions,
besides the mission at Dar-es-Salaam, which may be re-
garded as the gateway of the colony. As far as possible
they have established themselves in comparatively healthy
highlands. In the north-east at Usambara the Univer-
sities' Mission and the German East Africa Mission occupy
adjacent territories, each having about six missionaries'
for a population numbering altogether about one hundred
and eighty thousand ; and beyond these, in picturesque
Jagga Land, stretches the mission of the Leipzic Evan-
gelical Lutheran Society. In the south-east, in the fertile
valley of the Rovuma, the Universities' Mission is at
work. Towards the centre of the province in the
mountainous hinterland there is a mission of the Church
Missionary Society, which has as yet only partially
reached some fifty thousand out of a population of seven
hundred thousand who speak two different languages,
and farther west, in Unyamwezi, there are outposts of the
Moravian Mission. Towards the south-west and as far as
the northern end of Lake Nyasa are mission stations of the
Moravians, planted among different tribes, and, east of
these, a group of stations of the Berlin Mission. In the far
north-west the solitary station of the Church Missionary
Society at the southern extremity of Lake Nyanza has
been taken over by the (American) Africa Inland Mission,
and west of Lake Nyanza is the new field of the German
East Africa Mission. This district between Lake Nyanza
and Lake Kivu is densely populated, containing over
three millions of a population speaking practically one J^c*^
language. They are divided into three classes, the pastoral «^
people, their dependants, and an ihlef iof face, apparently /
allied to the pigmies. " ,
Mission work among the tribes of the interior is rendered
236 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
difficult by the fact that their country is ruled on a
feudal system, in which everything depends upon the
despot will of the king, and as almost all these kings or
fOi sultans view Christian missions with disfavour, it is those
who have nothing to lose who are most disposed to make
friends with the foreigners. The attempt to secure Court
influence, as was done in Uganda, has hitherto failed ;
there are indications that the native Courts \vill incline
l^^ to Islam. Except in the Usambara district, all the
missions are lamentably understaffed for the needs
within immediate reach, while there are large intervening
spaces absolutely unoccupied. The populous district
to the south and west of Lake Nyanza could at once
furnish ample room for two hundred foreign missionaries.
The reports of missionaries emphasise the great need for
teachers, as it is evident that no mission can establish
itself thoroughly or create a native Church without a
school. It should be added that throughout the province,
in all the fields named, there are several Roman Catholic
missions, German East Africa being divided into five
districts. The staff of workers numbers nearly two
hundred Fathers and Brothers and a hundred Sisters, and
the missions claim about twenty-two thousand Roman
. «. Catholics. "^-— =-»-'
3. British East Africa. — Off the coast, north of Dar-es-
Salaam, the gate of Qerman East Africa, lies the island
of Zanzibar, which is under British protection, and
where are the headquarters of the Universities' Mission.
In the associated island of Pemba, farther north, the
Friends have a mission. There is also a strip of sea-
coast belonging to that Protectorate which runs north-
ward from German East Africa along the British
territory as far as the small Protectorate of Witu,
Taking the Protectorate of British East Africa along
with the small territories of Zanzibar and Witu, and
also with the Protectorate of Uganda, we have a country
fuUy five times the size of England and Wales, but with
a population usually estimated only at about nine
AFRICA 237
millions, nearly equally distributed between the two
larger Protectorates, the two smaller ones having between
them only about a quarter of a million. The population
is similar in character to that of German East Africa,
there being on the coast a mixture of Arabs with Indians
and Africans, while inland the inhabitants are mostly
Bantu or ^iHotic negroes, with admixtures of some
distinct tribes such as the Masai, the Somali, the Gallas,
and the pigmies. In the Uganda Province, the virile
Baganda number about a fourth of the inhabitants.
The physical features are also analogous to those of
German East Africa. The coast rises rapidly to a
splendid and fertile plateau about five or six thousand
feet above the sea with magnificent mountain clusters.
To this plateau many white settlers are now finding
their way by the railway from Mombasa, especially to
the district south of Mount Kenia. About Kikuyu,
where the Church of Scotland is at work, the people
have great herds, and the herding occupies the children,
and is in this way adverse to their education. The
average elevation of the Uganda Protectorate to the
west of the plateau sinks to about 2000 feet.
In this whole district there are eight missionary
societies at work, besides the Roman Catholics, and
the relations of these societies to one another are happily
marked by an earnest regard to the principles of comity
and co-operation. In no case, however, is the European
staff regarded as adequate even for the field immediately
open to the society, and in most cases it is lamentably
inadequate. In estimating the adequacy, regard must
be had, as the Bishop of Mombasa says, to the number
of languages, the nature of the country, and the isolated
condition of the tribes. While the railway from Mombasa
to Uganda has opened a highway through the land,
the moment the railway track is left, travelling must be
done on foot, and this necessarily limits the area of
itineration and supervision. In British East Africa,
the native Churches are still small, the inland missions
are very young, and three-fourths of the territory is
238 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
^untouched. In Uganda, on the other hand, there has
been a Splendid missionary development, the native
^ Church now numbering seventy thousand, with two
thousand native preachers, evangelists, and readers.
To this Church Bishop Tucker looks as the instrument
for the evangelisation of the surrounding territories
(as it has proved the instrument for the evangelisation
of Toro and Bunyoro), and this despite the fact that in
entering the region still to be evangelised it passes
from Bantu to non-Bantu languages, while north of
Uganda the tribes are sparse, unsettled, and migratory.
Half the field in Uganda is still untouched. Bishop
Tucker expresses the opinion that if the native Church
would furnish three thousand evangelists, fifty European
missionaries and fifty European women should suffice
for that district. The large European staff is indispens-
able for training, leadership, and supervision, as well
as for linguistic work. In all the other parts of the
inland field, there is need for an increase varying from
threefold to a hundredfold to meet the wants of the
different districts.
The opportunity is urgent because of the advance of
^. Islam, not only by traders from the north, but also by
traders from the east ; and also because the railway is
I bringing up into the country men whose evil lives are
J .. positive hindrances to Christian work, and who accustom
the natives to doubts regarding the need or profit of a
Christian profession. There is a remarkable consensus
of opinion as to the .peril that is already making itself
n felt from these causes. There is also a remarkable
agreement of testimony as to the necessity for elementary
educational work with religious teaching. In the opinion
of Dr. Scott of Kikuyii, this is the primary necessity
in the missionary enterprise. Whole tribes are still
illiterate, and it is through the school that the foundations
of the Church must be laid.
AFRICA 239
VIII. MADAGASCAR
Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles
In order to complete our survey of Africa it is necessary
to look at the island mission fields associated with it. Off
the east coast, at a distance of 250 miles, lies the important
islaiid of Madagascar, now a French possession, some-
what larger than France, but with only one-fifteenth
of its population. The two and a half 'million of
inhabitants, who are of Malayan origin, are divided
into several tribes, speaking different dialects, but the
Hova dialect into which the whole Bible is translated, is
generally understood by most of the other tribes, and will
doubtless gradually become the literary language-^the
whote island. The story of Christian missions in Mada-
gascaf— the long and painful trials through which the
native Church endured, and the rapid expansion which
followed when the Court became a protector instead
of a persecutor of the faith — is well known. The sup-
planting of native rule by French administration brought
with it, however, a new series of trials and hindrances.
The Protestant religion was no longer in favour with
the Government. The first effect was a thorough sifting
of the native Churches connected with the different
missions ; thousands renounced Christianity, and the
Christian community, which had been reckoned at about
four hundred thousand, shrank to considerably less
than three hundred thousand. The present policy of
the Government appears to aim at the gradual, but
rapid strangling of Protestant Christianity. Missionary
schools have been closed on various pretexts, until now
there are only tens where there used to be hundreds.
Chapels have been closed and theTefection of new chapels
prohibited, and the severest restrictions have been laid
upon public, and even upon family, worship, whUe no
official dare render any kind of personal help to missions.
At first it appeared as if the London Missionary Society
might be expelled from the island, but the Paris
j^
JVtt
240 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Missionary Society came nobly to its aid, taking over
large portions of its work, and so identifying itself with
the London Missionary Society as to neutralise the
pretence that the London Missionary Society could be
II dealt with as a British political agency. Besides these
two societies; the' Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel, the Friends, the Norwegians, and the American
Norwegian Lutherans are at work in the island. Five of
these societies are at work in the central province of
Tananarivo, which is one of the smallest of the twenty-
four, but, being the seat of Governrnxcnt, contains a
fifth of the whole population. In the nine northern
provinces, with a population of about half a million,
only two missionaries are located, but in seven of the
nine native evangelists are at work, though far too
sparsely distributed. Two of these provinces and one
in the extreme south have no evangelist. The bulk of
the i6o European missionaries labouring in the island
are found in the districts of Lnerina and Betsileo.
The south and west of the island are being worked
by Norwegians and their American allies. Despite
oppression by the Government, the Gospel is spreading.
Many are becoming obedient to the faith, and the
outlook would be hopeful if only freedom of action
t. were allowed. What is obviously required is united
counsel and co-operation in order that the European
forces may be distributed to the best account all over the
island, and provision made for the training of efficient
native teachers and pastors. It may be added as a
postscript that there is now the hope that a change in
the Government may inaugurate a more tolerant policy.
In the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar, there
is a population of three hundred and eighty thousand, of
whom over two hundred thousand are immigrants from
•^r India, working in the sugar plantations. Both the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Church Missionary
Society maintain mission work in the island. It is carried
on in five languages, but chiefly among the Indian immi-
grants. The same societies maintain work in the Seychelles,
AFRICA 241
where there is a mixed population of about twenty-eight
thousand. But both in Mauritius and in the Seychelles
there is lack of definite effort for the due evangelisation
of these islands.
THE NEED OF AFRICA
Is it possible to sum up, even in the roughest outline,
the work remaining to be done in the evangelisation of
Africa ? We may at least venture to indicate some of
the lines along which we may recognise the imperative
duty of the future. In many of the older mission fields
{e.g. South Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia), there is an
urgent call to earnest co-operation both at the home base
and in the field itself, in order (i) to obviate overlapping
or competitive operations in the same area ; (2) to cover
the whole of each field with an effective evangelistic
agency ; (3) to secure efficiency in higher education,
training institutions, and the production of literature ;
and (4) to promote, as far as possible, the formation of
one native Church. Such co-operation may involve
surrenders on the one hand and heavier burdens on the
other, but it is essential to the evangelisation of Africa.
But reinforcements are also urgently needed. In no
one of these fields, unless possibly in South Africa, is the
European force, even if it were redistributed to the best
advantage, really adequate to the task. Still more is
the native agency lacking ; and the creation of an effective
native evangelistic agency is essential to success. In
the newer fields, where the greatest triumphs have been
won, as in Uganda and Livingstonia, the policy pursued
has been to develop a growing army of more or less
educated native agents, and to make the maintenance
and training of their spiritual life the continual care
of their European superintendents. It is impossible to
gauge the number of European missionaries required to
make existing work effective even within the sphere it
is trying to cover, and still more, to fill out the work so as
to effectuate a ministry of Christ throughout the whole
COM. I. — 16
242 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
field within its horizon. Enough to say here, that they
must be reckoned by hundreds, if not by thousands.
But that is only a small part of the need of Africa.
Our survey has failed of its purpose if it has not conveyed
to the reader the vision of numerous territories, especially
in Portuguese East Africa, in the Congo States and in
the whole Sudanese regions from the Atlantic to the
Indian Ocean, to which the Church has not yet sent a single
missionary to tell of the Saviour of mankind, and which,
moreover, are bej'ond the purview of any existing mission.
Africa has suffered many VvTongs in the past at the hands
of the stronger nations of Christendom, and she is suffer-
ing wrongs at their hands to-day ; but the greatest
wrong, and that from which she is suffering most, is
being inflicted by the Church of Christ. It consists in
withholding from so many of her children the know-
ledge of Christ. The flags of Christian nations float over
nearly the whole of Africa, but there are large domains
in which not a mission station has been planted. The un-
touched regions of Africa are a clamant call to the Church,
It is true that the population of Africa is comparatively
small. But no one acquainted with its history and
observant of its resources can doubt that under more
settled and propitious conditions in the future, the popu-
j lation will increase enormously. Here, as in no other
continent, there is a mass of dark, illiterate, dissevered,
and degraded Paganism to be enlightened and uplifted
into the Church of Christ. Already there has percolated
into its remotest corners the knowledge of the outside
^' world of superior civilisation and power, ever coming nearer
and certain to influence its future. But it is not always
the Gospel of Christ which is in the forefront of this
approach. Where it has been so, as in 'Ngoniland and
Barotsiland, it has stopped inter-tribal wars, beat swords
into ploughshares, opened schools and introduced a happier
order by peaceful reformation Much more often, however,
the incoming of European Christendom appears in the form
of commercial enterprise, or of extensions of administration,
and sometimes of armed expeditions opening new paths for
AFRICA 243
commerce ; and the misfortune is that commercial enter-
prise without Christianity communicates to the people a
superadded hardening of heart, a new immorality, and a
materialising of life. It is a reproach to Christianity that
the pioneers of commerce are so vastly more numerous
and so much more vigilant and adventurous than the
pioneers of the Gospel.
In no respect is the situation in Africa more critical
than in respect of the rapid and persistent advance of
Islam, From its broad base in the North and from its
strong entrenchments on the East Coast, it is steadily
pressing southward and westward. It offers to the
primitive tribes, along with the attractions of a nobler
belief, the inducements of a certain social elevation, of
connection with a great religious community, and of a
better standing with foreign administrations, while its
terms both of conversion and of membership present no
difficulty to the understanding or morality of a heathen.^^
The plea sometimes heard in professedly Christian circles
that it is better than Paganism for the African, is begging
the question. Can Islam effect the redemption of Africa ?
What has Islam made of the Africa it has dominated
for centuries ? What can it make of the future of
Africa ? It is a religion without the knowledge of the
Divine Fatherhood, a religion without compassion for
those outside its pale, and to the whole womanhood of
Africa it is a religion of despair and doom. It is a re-
ligion without love, and only Love will redeem Africa.
We are charged with a mission of Love, and the question
is, shall we tarry and trifle in our mission, while Africa
is being made the prey of Islam ? The added difficulty
of our task to-day is the penalty of our past neglect ;
and if we are to avert our task being made harder still
by the onward march of Islam, there is not a day to lose.
But we have not only to stay the advance of Islam
in Africa ; we have to win the Moslem world in Africa
for Christ. Its gates are opening for the Gospel, though
the entrances are narrow, and to be used with wisdom
and care, lest they be forcibly closed again. But every
244 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
foothold won by Christian missions means a growing
opportunity. And until the foundations of Islam in
the north are shaken and removed, the Christianity
which may be established in Central Africa will be per-
petually exposed to its assaults. Mohammedan Africa
in the north needs Christ as much as Pagan Africa farther
south, and into this long-neglected field the Church
ought to send her specially trained missionaries, not in
units as hitherto, but in tens and hundreds.
When we turn from the North of Africa to its southern
extremity, we encounter a different and complex problem,
the problem created by the European settlement, and
by racial division. It may be said that if Islam has its
base in the North, Christianity has its base in the South,
and is pressing northward as steadily as Islam is pressing
southward. Undoubtedly there is an assimilating influ-
ence in a strong and continually expanding Christian
community, even although it be of foreign blood. Pagan
tribes as they come into contact with it are forced to
recognise in its religion the religion of their future, and
they drift naturally into some sort of acceptance of it.
But the misfortune is that the European settlers who are
moving up inland in the various colonies and protec-
torates, as well as the agents of the various trading
companies, though belonging to nominally Christian
nations, are far too often men who in their characters
Jj and lives misrepresent Christianity. The natives feel
that their heathen beliefs and practices cannot stand
before the enlightenment of the white man, but in the
white man they see far too commonly what hinders
rather than helps their acceptance of Christianity. And
allied with this are the racial antagonisms so keenly felt,
in particular, throughout the Union of South Africa. Is
the Spirit of Christ strong enough to overcome these
antagonisms ? Do the faith and the practice of pro-
fessed Christians agree in the answer to this question ?
Whatever be the present difficulties of the situation,
the Gospel of Christ must be preached as the Gospel
which proclaims all one in Christ.
AFRICA 245
Finally, we are entitled to ask from Christian Govern-
ments in Africa a more favourable attitude towards
Christian missions. Missionaries have proved the best
pioneers of commerce, the best negotiators of friendly
extensions of foreign protection, the most influential
forces in preventing local strife and bloodshed and in
securing order, the most effective agencies in advancing
education and developing native industries, and all this
at the most trifling cost to the Governments concerned.
The native communities which have come under the
power of the Gospel are the most orderly and the most,
profitable in Africa. It is simply a libel upon the Gospel
and a grave injustice to missionaries, and still more to
the natives whose well-being should be the first object
of colonial administration, to place hindrances in the way
of well-founded missions under responsible and accredited
societies. They ought rather to be encouraged and
helped in every way consistent with their mutual rela-
tions to the well-being of the natives of Africa.
THE NON-CHRTSTIANS OF THE
WESTERN HEi\nsrHERE
I. THE INDIANS AND ORIENTALS IN SOUTH AMERICA
I. The People to be Evangelised. — The Indians of South
America constitute a large section of the population.
Not including the mixed population which has in its
veins a great deal of Indian blood, there are, it is
estimated, over six millions of pure Indiims widely dis-
tributed tlu^oughout the continent. Those of this
number who are deep in heathen darkness come within
the scope of this review. The only other non-Christians
among the people of South America are 165.000 Hindu,
Javanese, and Chinese coolies who have been brought
over to work on the plantations.^
The majority of the non-Christian Indians dwell in
the Upper Amazon basin, along the banks of its tribu-
taries, and also in the source region of the rivers which
make up the La Plata. The rest of the Indians reside
chiefly on the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia and on the
Upper Orinoco. The Hindu, Chinese, and Javanese coolies
in the three Guianas occupy the comparatively small
plantation belt along the seacoast and near the mouth
of the rivers. The Cliinese in Brazil and Peru who came
over from China as coolies, aie now working as merchants,
gardeners, and laundi-ymen. The majority of the Indians
are simple agi"iculturists, though many are semi-nomads
and live by fishing and hunting. Part of the heathen
Indians in Brazil and some also in Bolivia, Colombia,
' Owing to the inadequate census reports it is impossible to give
more ttian approximate figures with reference to the distribution
of the Indian population among the various countries of South
246
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
247
Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela have come into a relation
of almost slave-like dependence upon the white population
or upon the half-breed rubber collectors who oppress them
terribly. Some of the heathen tribes in the north-eastern
part of Paraguay are occupied in gathering the Paraguay
tea, while Chaco Indians labour in the Quebracho forests.
The Araucanians in Chile and in western Argentina have
settled down as farmers and cattle breeders and are
earning a modest livelihood notwithstanding their con-
stant struggle against the greed of the Chilean people.
So far as religion is concerned the non-Christian Indians
of South America are Animists clinging to the worship
of ancestors and of the soul. The Javanese and those
immigrants from India who are not Hindus are Moham-
medans. The Chinese are Confucianists,
America. According to the most reliable reports the Indians
are distributed as follows : —
Total number
of Indians.
Argentina .
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile .
Colombia .
Ecuador
British Guiana
Dutch Guiana
French Guiana
Paraguay .
Peru .
Venezuela .
30,000
900,000
1,300,000 j
102,000
250,000
1,000,000
7,463 1
5,000 1
1,221
50,000
1,700,000
1, 000, coo
Uruguay is the only country in South America in which there
are no Indians. The other non-Christian inhabitants are dis-
tributed as follows : In Brazil there are about 1000 Chinese
coolies, and importation of Javanese coolies has begun ; in British
Guiana there are 3714 Chinese and 105,463 Hindus; in Dutch
Guiana there are 2500 Chinese, 17,000 Hindus, and 5500 Javanese ;
in French Guiana there are 300 Indo-Chinese ; and in Peru there
are 7000 Chinese.
248 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
2. The Work already Accomplished. — As early as 1558
the French Huguenot, John Boles, preached to the
Indians in Santos. From that time for a period of
two centuries sporadic and intermittent efforts were
made to carry on missionary work. During the period
1738-1808 the Moravians influenced the conversion
of several hundreds of Indians among the Arawaks in
British Guiana, and this work WcLS continued by the
Church Missionary Society in the period 1829-1853,
after which the Anglican Colonial Church, with the help
of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel conducted
this Indian Mission, and as a result of its persistent en-
deavours won a majority of the Arawaks, Warau, Acawois,
Macusi, Wapisiana, and Patanuna. Since the year
1840 the Brethren have carried on work among the
Indians along the River Berbice. A great many
attempts have been made to carry on mission work
among the Indians of Brazil, but after a few years all of
them were relinquished because of apparently insur-
mountable obstacles. In Paraguay the South American
Missionary Society has established an important mission
among the Chaco Indians. From its principal station
it has exerted a strong influence especially among the
Lengua. The Inland South American Missionary Union
has for several years carried on a work on behalf of
the Guaranis and the forest Indians in the north and
east parts of Paraguay. The heroic work of the South
American Missionary Society among the Tierra del
Fuegians, inaugurated by Allen Gardiner, is well known.
Unfortunately it will soon come to an end because of the
.apparently inevitable extinction of the tribe, which has
-'^^ already been reduced to about 600 people. More hope-
ful is the work among the Araucanians in Southern Chile,
among whom missionary work is now carried forward
from two stations. In the republics of Bolivia, Ecuador,
and Peru a beginning in mission work has been made
during the past decade. In Bolivia a South American
Evangelical Union missionary is working among the
Chiriguara Indians, and the Methodist Mission in La
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 249
Paz is working among the Aymaras. The Regions
Beyond Missionary Union has begun a work among the
Quichua Indians in Peru. Missionaries of the Kansas
Gospel Union are preaching the Gospel to the savage
Irawos Indians in Ecuador along the eastern slopes of the
Andes.
The missionary work among the non-Christians of
South America is not without its enooiiTagements. The
Anghcan Colonial Church Mission in British Guiana
has influenced 16,000 among, 20^000 Indians to become
Christians. ThenBrethren have gathered a community
of 1 100 Christians in the same country. Moreover, the
Anglicans, Wesleyans, Moravians, and Brethren have
had good results in their work among the Chinese in
this country, fully qneriiali of the Chinese population J^
having become Christians. Of the Hindu immigrants
4200 have already been Christianised. In Dutch
Guiana the Moravians within a short period have
baptized 121 Hindus and four Javanese. In the southern
part of tTie continent 200 Lengua in Paraguay, and 200
Yahgans among the rapidly disappearing Tierra del
Fuegians, and also a considerable number of the Arau-
canians have become Christians as a result of the work
of the South American Missionary Society.
3. What remains to be done. — Compared with other
fields of Christian missions, South America may still
well be called the Neglected Continent. The principal
reason for the late and sporadic efforts of Christian
missions in this part of the world, other than those of
the Roman Catholic Church, may be found in the
obstacles placed in the way of such work in nearly all
of the South American countries by the State Church.
The language difficulty is somewhat serious in the work
among the Indians as there are some fifty-one different ^^
languages. The deadly climate in the forest districts
caristitutes another grave obstacle. The missionaries
sent to this continent by the Churches of North America
have occupied themselves chiefly in work on behalf of
the nominally. Roman Catholic white and coloured
250 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
population. A heavy obligation rests upon these
Churches to do more to reach the non-Christian population.
Such effort has been greatly facilitated by the recent
improvement of means of communication.
A sound missionary strategy is essential if the missions
of South America are to accomplish the best results.
Small, independent missions, working without a states-
manlike plan and without adequate knowledge of tlie
field, should be discouraged. Carefully selected centres
should be chosen and should be so strongly manned that
there will be no serious break in the work because of
r)^^ furloughs ,an^~~occasional"innesses^ There are nov/ fi\'e
centres of special importance — the Anglican Mission in
the interior of British Guiana, the station of the South
American Missionary Society in the Gran Chaco, the
two stations of the same society among the Araucanians
in Chile, and the stations of the Kansas Gospel Union
and of the Regions Beyond Missionary Union on the
eastern slopes of the Andes in Ecuador and Peru.
Additional centres seem to be needed in the Upper
Orinoco in Venezuela, in the district of San Martin on
the eastern slopes of the Andes in Colombia, on the
Rio Negro in Brazil, on the upper Mamore in
eastern Bolivia, and in Cuiaba in Matto Grosso for the
interior of Brazil. Independent missionaries are not
qualified for this kind of work because there is no
guarantee of indispensable continuity. In such a
dif&cult field only societies possessing a wide experience
are able to meet the situation. Therefore, it would
seem to be unwise to have new societies established for
reaching the South American Indians. It should be
reiterated that the North American societies already at
work in South America might most advantageously
enlarge their work to reach the Indians scattered through
the vast forests of the interior of this great continent.
It is to be hoped that the South American Christians
will also co-operate increasingly in meeting this great
need.
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 251
II. ORIENTALS IN THE WEST INDIES
It is estimated that there are 133,000 East Indians
in the West Indies distributed as follows : Trinidad,
108,000 ; Jamaica, 20,000 ; other islands and British
Honduras, 5000. The reason for the preponderance
of East Indians in Trinidad is found in the fact that in
the case of Trinidad the agreement under which they come
out contains no fixed limit of time for their return, while
in the case of other islands they must return within a
delinite period or forfeit their free return passage. In
consequence, they stay on in Trinidad and another
generation springs up which has no desire to return.
TEe~East Indians mainly retain their Hinduism and
Mohammedanism with certain modifications. The pro-
cess of assimilationub jingularly slo\v.
Very little work is being done as a whole among them.
The British and Foreign Bible Society is supplying books
in the various languages, and a little colportage is done
from time to time. The Canadian Mission to Indian
Immigrants has six missionaries, two ordained natives,
forty^^even catechists and ten Bible-women working
among them. Valuable work is being done by means
of schools and through Sunday Schools. There are
1200 communicants. The Presbyterian Church in
Jamaica, which is in relation with the United Free Church
of Scotland, formerly supported a missionary in India
and another in Africa, but has now adopted the East
Indians in that island as its foreign mission field, and
maintains seven East Indian catechists at as many
different stations throughout the island. The number of
communicants at present stands at 257 ; but since the
commencement of the mission sixteen years ago, upwards
of 1300 East Indians have been baptized, many of whom
have carried certificates of Church membership back
with them to India.
252 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
III. INDIANS IN CENTRAL AMERICA
The entire population of the five Republics of Central
America is estimated at 4,270,000, of whom 1,700,000
are said to be Indians. The Roman Catholic Church
claims three-fourths of these as Christianised, but in the
opinion of missionaries among them, this is an over-
estimate. There a.t"e whole tribes which have neve'rlDeen
visited, by the Bishops of the different Republics and
among whom there are no resident priests. We have
here, therefore, a population of at least 450,000 Indians
who are sunk in heathen darkness and come within the
scope of this report.
The Indians show a kindly spirit when once their
confidence has been gained and an almost childlike readi-
ness to hear the Gospel. But they are shy and remote,
living either far up in the mountains or in the fever-
smitten regions of the coast.
The only serious difficulty in the way of mis-
sionary work is the deadly climate along the marshy
coasts. Missionaries who have visited the coast
tribes have ordinarily been able to remain but
two months at a time before being smitten with the
fever.
The Central American Mission has now in Central
America 28 foreign missionaries, including wives, about
70 churches, and iioo members. All the tribes have been
visited, and the Mission is proposing to place two mission-
aries in each tribe in addition to the work now being
done. This would require twenty additional mission-
aries, who should be men of good physique and heroic
courage to face the climatic dangers. The Moravians
are also carrying on work among them in Nicaragua
in the Mosquito Reservation. They have 32 foreign
missionaries, including wives, and 1231 communicants,
and here is apparently a danger that the Nicaraguan
Government may forbid the entrance of any more mission-
aries, while on the other hand there are'financial diflSculties
in the way of expansion by this Mission. The work has
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 253
been greatly blessed in the past and has in it elements of
great promise for the future.
IV. INDIANS IN THE UNITED STATES
1. Number and Distribution. — The Indian population
of the United States exclusive of Alaska is 300,545. One
third of these, or 101,469, including the " Five Civilised
Tribes," so called, are located in the State of Oklahoma,
with which the former Indian Territory is now incor-
porated. Almost one-fifth of all of the Indians are within
the bounds of Arizona and New Mexico, the two remaining
divisions of the United States having the territorial form
of government. In each of the states of California and
South Dakota there are approximately 20,000 Indians,
and the remaining Indians are scattered in twenty-two
States of the Union.
In ethnologic grouping, a varied and interesting study
is presented, as fifty-six distinct languages are spoken
with many additional dialectic differences, and between
250 and 300 tribes and tribal divisions of the American
Indian race are still found in this population. The main
stocks are the Algonquin, Sioux, Athabascan, Shoshonean,
Iroquoian, and Piman. On the Pacific Coast the greatest
multiplicity of language is to be found. The large number
of linguistic stocks having lexically no connection with
each other is remarkable.
2. Present Condition. — The Indians are not a decadent
or vanishing race, but are in a transitional period and in
a stage of readaptation to changed conditions which
create serious problems involving their preservation and
welfare. The best evidence and testimony indicate that
for several decades the American red men have been
slightly increasing in numbers, and to-day the race is more
than holding its own. Admixture with the white race,
wide scattering of the population, and the rapid breaking
up of tribal and reservation life disguise this fact of an
increase in population. Major Chas. F. Larabee, late
Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs, after long
264 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
service in Government relations, has expressed his belief^
that the Indian population has been on the increase fori
decades and possibly during more than a century.
But the new Governmental policies of abolishing Indian
Agencies, the allotment of land in severalty, the removal of
restrictions to a considerable extent on allotted lands, and
the~breaking up of tribal._ relations and heathen custjoms,
are making a new e£och for this race, and are requiring
rea.djustments to which the slow-moving red men pain-
^ fully adapt themselves.
3. Christian Service. — In the annalsof Christian missions
the history of the Indian work forms a heroic and inspiring
chapter of devotion, untiring effort and patience, from
the days of John Eliot, John Sergeant, and the Mayhews,
through the pioneer labours of David Zeisberger, Jonathan
Edwards, and David Brainerd, Marcus Whitman, Thomas
S. Williamson, Stephen R. Riggs, Samuel Worcester,
Bishops Whipple and Hare, and a great company of
ministers, superintendents, and teachers who have given
their lives for the evangelisation and education of this
race. Twenty-seven mission boards and societies, not
including the Roman Catholic societies, are engaged to-
day in this work, whilst 715 organised churches and preach-
ing stations are established. These are supplied by 171
ordained white ministers, 211 native pastors, 105 white
assistants, and igo native helpers. The number of com-
municants is 28,406, and the total of the estimated
adherents is almost 70^000. There are maintained 309
SaFBath Schools, with an enrolment of 17,000. In
educational work more than fifty mission schools are
reported, with 150 instructors and 2830 pupils.
The Roman Catholic Church through the Director of
its Bureau of Missions in 1909 reported 40,000 " good
Catholics," and in February 1910, these figures were
changed to 51,000 in the report made to the Board of
Indian Commissioners. It was stated that in all there are
106,000 Catholics among the Indians, but part of these
were referred to by the director as " baptized pagans."
4. Scope of Mission Effort. — The lines of work have
THE^WESTERN HEMISPHERE 255
been primarily evangelisation and the translation and
interpretation of the Scriptures into the languages of the
Indians, who are_slow^to give up their native tongue, and
can only be effectively reached by the missionary who
acquires their language. Educational effort ha,s been in
elementary English branches, and industrial teacning,
especially agriculture, stock raising, carpentry, and
domestic service. Lack of funds and equipment have
prevented a larger scope of mechanical and industrial
instruction.
5. Present Needs. — Many tribes or tribal remnants are
still in heathenism, and observe the annual rites of
Paganism, while the Shamans or medicine men exercise
control, and no adequate relief has been supplied for their
physical, mental, and spiritual needs. The statistics of
the unevangelised Indians of the United States have now
been collated, and these uncared-for heathen of Christian
America are in all over fifty thousand, to whom no herald
of the Gospel has come, and who are without Christian
instruction or the ordinances of the Church. jQver_iifty
tribal divisions are in need of missionaries.
To supply these neglected Indians with the opportunity
to liear; and accept the Gospel of Christ is a most needed
service at this time. The strengthening of the forces
now at work and the enlarging of the educational pro-
vision made by the women's boards and other mis-
sionary agencies, is urgently called for.
The salvation of these people is a work peculiarly
conimitfed to American Christians. Instincts of religion
and patriotism, a sense of responsibility and obligation
to the heathen in their own land, the history of the,,
often unjust and cruel dealings with the native race
in the past, all impel to speedy and effective efforts for
their redemption.
v. ORIENTALS IN THE UNITED STATES
I. Their Population, Distribution, and Religions. — The
Orientals in the United States are chiefly Chinese, Japanese,
256 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Koreans, and East Indians. Their numbers are estimated
at from 160,000 to 186,000. The Chinese and East
Indian population is increasing shghtly, while that of the
Japanese and the Koreans has recently been decreasing.
The Chinese, estimated at from 60,000 to 80,000, come
chiefly from the vicinity of Canton and are found in
largest numbers on the Pacific Slope, where from 30,000
to 42,000 are resident, and the Rocky Mountain district
with from 15,000 to 18,000. Immigration was checked
by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 directed especially
against labourers, but there has been a steady increase
in immigration during the past two years. During 1909,
1600 were admitted, of whom an increasing number were
students and comparatively few were women. The
Chinese have no priests as such, but their head men officiate
in the temples ~of Joss houses which are to be found in
nearly all Chinese "quarters. Their worship consists of a
mixture of pure teachings of Lao-tse, of Confucian philo-
sophy, and superstitious observances.
About 75,000 of the 90,000 Japanese in the United
States are on the Pacific Slope, while 10,000 of the remain-
ing population are located in the inter-mountain and
Rocky Mountain region. Immigration was checked by
the Japanese Government in the year 1900, and later in
1907 an understanding was reached by which the Japanese
Government issues passports to three classes alone,
namely, former students, settled agriculturists, and the
parents, wives, and children of former residents. Budd-
hists of Kioto established American headquarters in
San Francisco in 1900 and now have thirteen branches in
the principal centres of California and three in the Pacific
North-West. They report fourteen priests and four lay
workers, three Japanese Buddhist publications and 4700
adherents in the United States.
The Koreans probably do not exceed 1500 in the whole
country. There are comparatively few in the Central
West or Far East, most of them residing on the Pacific
Slope. Immigration was practically stopped by the
Japanese Government as the result of the agreement with
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 257
the United States. They show no tendency to carry a
native religion from the home land and the non-Christians
are practically without religion.
It is impossible to estimate correctly the number of
immigrants from India on the Pacific Coast. Three
thousand have arrived since 1899, of whom probably
one-half are in Hawaii. The remainder are largely in
California and are widely scattered. They are chiefly ex-
soldiers. They represent different religions, including the
Mohammedan, Hindu, Aryo Samaj , Buddhist, and Christian.
2. Difficulties and Problems. — Many of the difficulties
in reaching these Orientals are common to all. They
include, the influence of the old faiths, the sense of injustice
and antagonism created by the agitation and discrimina-
tion against the Orientals, and the lack of sympathy of
many Christians.
Among the Chinese there are special problems. There
are few Chinese women and family life is lacking. Much
of the population is migratory, while that which is fixed is
exposed to impurity, and is also much addicted to gamb-
ling. The absence of trained workers for the Chinese
constitutes probably one of the most serious'problems.
The Japanese and Koreans are much more easil}^
accessible. In dress, language, food, and general manner
of life they quickly adopt American customs. They are
young, vigorous, industrious, hopeful, and self-denying,
but many of them are addicted to drinking and gambling.
There are many students among them and these are
most easily reached and are most influential. Those
scattered along the railways in construction camps are
peculiarly difficult of access. The Buddhist priests try
to keep their people from being influenced by Christianity.
3. Christian Work being Done. — There are two distinct
forms of work carried on by the Orientals in America,
local Church work in which the Asiatic converts usually
become members of the American Churches, and regular
mission work supported by various missionary societies.
The former is found principally in the East and the
Central West, while organised mission work is largely
COM. I. — 17
258 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
confined to the Pacific Coast and a few of the large cities
of the East.
(i) It is difficult to secure reliable data concerning the
extent and character of the work done by local Churches.
The importance of this work cannot be overestimated.
For the Chinese much is being done through special
Sunday School classes and in night schools. The work
is carried on chiefly in the important cities. The agents
of the American Bible Society in San Francisco, Denver,
and Portland, Oregon, are giving special attention to
Orientals. They distribute Bibles and portions of the
Scripture in the native tongue and employ colporteurs
who are able to speak the language at least to some
extent. In some cases these are native Christians and
in others returned missionaries.
(2) The organised mission work has been difficult, but
fruitful. From the beginning of this work about 6500
Chinese have become baptized communicants of the
various Churches. The present membership is probably
not more than one-fourth of this number. The work in
San Francisco suffered much in the great fire, but most
of the missions have been rebuilt. There is no unoccupied
field of considerable size and of constant population.
The Presbyterians and Methodists have homes for
Chinese women and children in San Francisco and do
much rescue work. The Disciples carry on hospital
work. There are comparatively few native pastors.
The Christians unite in publishing a Christian magazine,
while those of one denomination have established a
mission in China.
Among the increasing number of Chinese students are
found a remarkable proportion of Christians. These have
organised themselves into a Chinese Student Christian
Association of the United States with a membership
approximating 100 and are exerting a leavening influ-
ence among the students of their own race.
The principal work among the Japanese has been
done during the past twenty years. About 4500 have
been baptized and have become connected with the
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 259
various Churches. The present membership is about
2000. With one exception, all important centres are
occupied. The Japanese work in America has borne
rich fruit in Japan in producing native pastors and
Christian laymen and in promoting temperance and other
reform movements. There are twenty-eight pastors in
the United States, located chiefly in California and the
Pacific North- West. The Japanese Christians have shown
great liberality in supporting their Christian work.
Those of the Methodist communion gave in 1909 nearly
.S30 per capita toward the support of Church work and
for benevolent purposes. There is a good Anglo- Japanese
school in San Francisco, and homes for Japanese women
and children in Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Work is being carried on for the Koreans in San Fran-
cisco, where there is a Church with a native pastor, and in
Southern California. In the mountain section the various
Korean Christians unite in efforts for their countrymen.
Very little is being done for the Hindus except through
the efforts of the American Bible Society.
4. Points to be Emphasised. — -Effective Christian work
among the Orientals in the United States will have an
important bearing on carrying the Gospel to the lands
from which the Orientals come. If they are led to Christ
and trained in Christian service they have peculiar oppor-
tunities for the comprehension of the real significance of
the Christian life. From their number may come an
important accession of workers in their home lands. No
diminution should therefore be permitted in the work
among them. Closer co-operation on the part of the
different missions occupying the same places would lead
to increased efficiency. The present methods, particularly
the Sunday School, the night classes, and the direct
preaching of the Gospel, should be emphasised. It is
important that Christians should manifest in their inter-
course with the Orientals the^genuine Christian spirit of
courtesy and charity that will remove prejudice and opert"
the way for the acceptance of the Gospel. No effort
should be spared to reach the increasing number of the
260
CARRYING THE GOSPEL
ablest young men who are coming from Oriental lands
to study in American colleges. The personal influence
exerted by Christian students and professors among these
will doubtless constitute the most fruitful agency of
winning them to faith in Christ.
VI. THE INDIANS IN CANADA
The Indian population of the Dominion of Canada,
according to the Report of the Department of Indian
Affairs for the year ending March 31, 1909, is 111,043.
This is an increase of 3406 over that reported in
1905. The Indians are widely distributed throughout
the Dominion.^
It is difficult to state to what extent they have been
evangelised. 2
^ The Indians in Canada are distributed in the various provinces
as follows : —
Nova Scotia . . . . .2,103
New Brunswick .
^
1. 871
Prince Edward Island
274
Quebec
11023
Ontario .
23,898
Manitoba _
8.327
Saskatchewan
7>97i
Alberta
5.541
Northwest Territories
21,362
British Columbia .
■
. 24,871
Yukon Territory .
9
3.302
:i '■ Total . . . . .
111,043
rhe Department reports their religious affiliations
as follow
Roman Catholics ....
40,820
Pagans
» •
9,622
Not designated
•
23.775
Protestant Communities
36,826
Methodist.
. 16,776
Anglican .
i6,t;90
Presbyterian
1,615
Baptist
1,107
Congregational
16
Salvation Army .
5 16
Others . " .
M
206
Total ,
in.043
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 261
The Anglicans and the Methodists have the largest con-
stituencies, while the Presbyterians and the Baptists are
increasing. The Anglicans are strongest in Ontario,
British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the North-
west and Yukon Territories. The Methodists are
strongest in Alberta and follow the Anglicans closely
in Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba. The
principal work of the Presbyterians is in British
Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Baptists
have worked almost exclusively in Ontario, but have
recentl}^ started work in Manitoba.
In addition to the regular evangelistic work of these
Churches, the Anglicans and Methodists have each three
medical missionaries with hospitals among the Indians in
Kritlsh Columbia. The unsanitary mode of living and
the vices of civilisation have wrought havoc among the
Indians. These conditions are met to some extent by
effective medical mission work.
The great correlating missionary agency among the
Indians is education. In this department the Dominion
Government assumes a large share of responsibility, and
it is urged by influential leaders of most of the Churches
that the Governmicnt should bear the entire financial
responsibility for the education of the Indians, who are
Government wards under treaty. However, the Churches
are so anxious to maintain a religious influence over their
respective Indian communities that they are willing to
share in the expense of their education so as to retain the
right of nominating the teachers. There are 20 industrial
schools, 57 boarding schools, and 231 day schools. Of
the total number of 308 schools, 51 are undenomina-
tional, 109 Roman Catholic, 86 Anglican, 44 Methodist,
16 Presbyterian, and 2 Salvation Army. There is an
enrolment of 5323 boys and 5156 girls, or a total of 10,479.
About one-half of the children between six and eighteen
years of age are enrolled in the schools.
The Government has created an Advisory Board of
Indian Education, to which each of the Churches engaged
in Indian work has the privilege of nominating two
262 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
representatives. This appointment has been a very
important step in the direction of overcoming waste of
effort and of developing a united pohcy of missionary
education.
While the Government is contributing generously to
Indian education, and while the Churches are giving much
attention to this work, it must be admitted that the
results are yet far from satisfactory. Some system of
compulsory education and some method of preventing
educated Indian youths from lapsing into the dependent
and uncivilised life of the reserves, seem essential.
Lack of sense of religious responsibility on the part of
the Indians is an unfortunate feature of nearly all Indian
missions. This is only in accord with the pauperising
influence which Government treaties have brought to the
Indian race. Every effort should be made to develop
religious self-support and activity. In districts where
mission work among the white population is contiguous
to Indian communities, the two should be brought as
closely together as possible. In this way a spirit of
Christian fellowship and brotherly emulation might be
stimulated and at the same time a good deal of missionary
money and life might be saved for more needy fields.
VII. ORIENTALS IN CANADA
The number of Orientals living in Canada at the
beginning of 1909 was 36,591, being an increase of 14,541
since 1901. These consist of 21,122 Chinese, 12,003
Japanese, and 3466 people from India (commonly spoken
of as Hindus). The great majority of these Orientals
are in British Columbia, especially in the cities of Van-
couver and Victoria, though from year to year they are
becoming more widely scattered, especially the Japanese,
who are found in all the canning centres and in mines and
construction camps. The Hindus are not found outside
of British Columbia, and are even there in smaller numbers
than some years ago. There are small numbers of
Japanese business men in many of the principal cities of
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 263
the Dominion, and a small farming colony of Japanese
has settled in Alberta Province. The Chinese, while
largely concentrated in the cities of British Columbia,
are found in growing numbers in most of the cities of the
western provinces and in Ontario.
Mission work among the Orientals has been prosecuted
chiefly by the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Anglican
Churches. Outside of British Columbia the Chinese are
reached in many cities by volunteer workers in various
Churches, who conduct Sunday Schools and in some cases
week-night classes. While it may be taken for granted
that the Chinese usually attend these classes for the sake
of learning English, there have been many gratifying
results both in conversions and in the general influence
exerted upon their lives. In Winnipeg, where there are
about 900 Chinese, the Presbyterians and Methodists
have recently organised a union Chinese mission.
In British Columbia the Methodists have seven mission
stations among the Chinese, and five among the Japanese.
Native pastors and evangelists are employed in these
missions under the direction of a Canadian superintendent.
Evangelistic and educational work are combined ; and
considerable numbers of Chinese and Japanese young men
are provided accommodation in mission dormitories.
The Presbyterians have organised mission work among
the Chinese in three cities in British Columbia, also in
Winnipeg and Montreal. They employ three Canadian
missionaries and three Chinese workers. Both evangel-
istic and educational work are carried on. This Church
conducts a mission in South-Eastern China for the specific
purpose of linking the work among the Chinese in Canada
with the district in their native country from which
nearly all these Chinese come. Missionaries trained in
that field are able to speak the dialect of aU the Chinese
in Canada. The Anglican Church has organised work
among the Chinese in two cities of British Columbia and
among the Japanese in one city, where evangelistic and
educational work are combined.
There is practically no organised mission work among
264 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the Hindus in British Columbia. They have not settled
sufficiently in any particular locality to warrant the
establishment of regular work among them. They are
scattered in different parts of the province.
More effective work is needed among the Chinese and
Japanese. It is important to have among them a few
Canadian missionaries possessing qualities of leadership,
and especially having a knowledge of the Chinese language
and familiar with Oriental characteristics. It would be a
great advantage if the Churches interested in this work
would combine in a thoroughly organised plan, without
denominational claims or distinctions. It is of the
utmost importance that the Oriental communities now
established in Canada should be permeated with Christian
standards and ideals of life,
VIII. THE ARCTIC REGIONS
Mission work among the Hyperboreans of Europe,
carried on by Protestant and Roman missionaries, as well
as that of the Russian Orthodox Church on the northern
confines of Eurasia and in Alaska, does not fall within the
scope of this brief review. Nor does that for Greenland,
since the withdrawal of the faithful Moravian missionaries
in 1900 was due to its completed evangelisation save for
two stations among heathen Eskimos, which the State
Church of Denmark is still carrying on, while caring also
for the established Christian communities.
Our survey includes only the Eskimo populations of
Labrador, the region about Hudson Bay and Strait, a "few
isolated communities along the northern sea-board and in
the north-western section of Britain's possessions, and
the comparatively large number who inhabit the coast of
Alaska. All told, there are probably less than 16,000 of
those under consideration, and of this population, nearly
all in Labrador are Christianised. Some ninety per cent,
of the Eskimos are in Alaska, where the United States
Government is aiding to a considerable extent in a work
which usually falls to the missionary's lot. This is
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE [[265
particularly true of education and of the industrial
innovation, due to the late Dr. Jackson, whereby reindeer
have been introduced and are changing Eskimo life for
the better ; though a number of the missionaries are
important factors in the Government's regime. Dr.
Grenfell's reindeer experiment is due to the Alaskan
success, and promises to be equally helpful to Labrador.
In many respects the Eskimos are in greater need than
any race for which missionaries are working. Their
environment is most uninviting and trying. The life of
the hunter and fisherman of the Far North is both
dangerous and uncertain. In summer, nomadism is an
obstacle to the missionary, while the Arctic night makes
work for them in winter far from easy. The communal
life, where it still exists, is unfavourable to morality ;
though Nansen may be right in holding that it is preferable,
in point of physical well-being, to the segregation of
families, consequent upon civilisation. In Alaska and
on the shores of Davis Strait, where contact with dissolute
whites is most common, they are exposed to the perils of
venereal and other diseases. ~
Religiously, these people are devoted to Shamanism
and are under the sway of their Angakoks, or wizards.
Dullness and sensuality, with a tendency to find in physical
pleasure their highest good, militate against a pure
Christianity. It has not proved very helpful to appeal
to their dim behef in God, since they speak of Him as far
above their comprehension and altogether beyond their
reach. On the other hand, the Eskimos are usually
cheerful and happy and are relatively truthful and honest,
while their singular simplicity and childlikeness furnish
a somewhat receptive soil for the Gospel when it once gains
lodgment. Yet after they are won, their old impulses
are so strong that many feel as an Alaskan once put it,
" It is lonesome to be a Christian all the time " ; hence the
lapses which sometimes discourage the missionary.
Religious work among these people is largely under the
care of the home missionary societies of the United States ;
though the Moravians, the Church Missionary Society,
266 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
and other organisations, also participate very helpfully.
Evangelistic effort is most emphasised, with medicine and
primary education as common and important adjuncts.
The sparseness of the population, rigours of winter travel
from settlement co settlement, and the limited intel-
lectuality of the Eskimo, have thus far made the task of
evangelisation slow and comparatively unfruitful. When
the native force is educated to the point which has been
reached in Greenland, greater progress may be expected.
The enterprise will always call for a larger per capita
expense than in almost any other part of the mission
world. It v/ill call, moreover, for deeper consecration
on the part of the workers and for a greater physical
fitness.
That the Church should continue and extend this work
among the dwellers within the Arctic regions is made
imperative by the decadence of the race, due mainly to
contact with corrupt white men who are coming in
increasing numbers to Alaska. The United States
Government's note of alarm is not hysterical, as witness"
the energetic way in which it is trying to stem this tide
of death. Its reports tell of the alarming increase of
pulmonary complaints and venereal disease, of the
scarcely believable prevalence of the liquor habit, and of
other disabilities incident to contact with deprav^ed
foreigners. True, this is more commonly the situation
among the Indians of Southern Alaska ; yet it will
assuredly be equally descriptive of the Eskimos, if the
beginnings of these scourges are not checked by Christian
teaching and example. The conditions constitute a
direct and clamant appeal to the Church to further the
work already begun. The language is practically the
same from Labrador to Alaska, though the dialects differ
greatly, and the foundations of a literature, including the
translation of the Scriptures, are laid. Upon this an
adequate superstructure should be built. The ten societies
already in the field should be urged to strengthen their
work, despite the relatively great expense. And above
all, whatever is done must be done speedily before hostile
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 2G7
forces make the work of rescue ineffective. Medical
missionaries are increasingly desired to avert the
threatened racial decay. Men of the spirit and power of
Sheldon Jackson, Edmund Peck, and Dr. Grenfell, with
the blessing of God upon their self-denying labours,
would soon accomplish the evangelisation of these literally
benighted people.
THE JEWS
I. THE PEOPLE TO BE EVANGELISED
I. Numbers and Distyihution. — The Jews are a re-
markable race. They have a history that stretches over
a period of almost 4000 years. Brought to the brink of
destruction at least five times in the course of their history,
they have been marvellously preserved, and they probably
exist to-day in larger numbers than at any previous period
of their history. According to the most reliable estimates,
the approximate figures of Jewish population were, on
January ist, 1910, in round numbers :
Europe
Asia
Africa
America .
Australasia
Total
9, 1 2 1;, 000
375.000
355,000
2,125,000
20,000
12,000,000
Thus the Jews of to-day are pre-eminently a people
living in Europe, though the Jewish population of the
United States — two millions— is to-day double that of
1899 and five times larger than it was in 1888.
In Europe, Austria contains more than 1,125,000
Jews; Hungary, 850,000; Bulgaria, 36,000; France,
95,000 ; German}^ 608,000 ; Holland, 106,000 ; Italy,
50,000 ; Roumania, 250,000 ; Russia, 5,215,000 ;
European Turkey, about 300,000 ; the British Isles,
238,000. In Asia, Palestine has 100,000 Jewish inhabit-
ants ; Asia Minor and Syria, 65,000 ; Persia, 63,000 ;
Arabia, 20,000 ; India, 18,000 ; Turkestan and Afghan-
istan, 18,000. In Africa, Morocco has 150,000
THE JEWS 269
Jews ; Tunis, 60,000 ; Algeria, 63,000 ; Abyssinia
(Falashas), 6,500 ; South Africa, 50,000. In America,
the United States has 2,000,000 Jews ; Canada, 60,000 ;
the Argentine Repubhc, 45,000.
The vast majority of all the Jews live in the larger cities
in separate quarters, in compact masses, and distinct in
social life from the surrounding Gentiles.^
2. Language. — Most of the Jews speak the language
of the country in which they dwell, even immigrants
readily and quickly acquiring the language of their
adopted country. The majority of the Jews of Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Russia, and the United States, or
perhaps three-fifths of all the Jews, speak the Yiddish,
which has been well called the international tongue
of the Jews. It is the corrupt German of the Middle
Ages, with a sprinkling of Pohsh and Hebrew words
(and some English words in Great Britain and the
United States), written with ^ Hebrew letters. An
extensive literature has sprung ^up in this exclusively
Jewish tongue, and the Jewish missionary labouring
among the poorer classes often finds that it is the only
tongue in which he can reach his hearers or readers.
The New Testament in Yiddish translation has been
1 It is interesting to consider the percentage of Jews to the total
population, as given in the Jewish Year Book, London, 1910. In
Poland, the percentage is 14I ; in Palestine, 15^; in Austria, 4'^ ;
in Roumania, 4^ ; in Hungary, 4f ; in Russia, 4 ; in Morocco, 3 ;
in the United States, 2;^ ; Canada, i^ ; Germany, i^^ ; France, | ;
Great Britain, ^. Among the cities of the world. Greater New
York contains the largest Jewish population, about one million ;
but the percentage of Jews to total population is only 26 ;
while in Russia, two cities, namely, Berditchev (47,000 Jews) and
Pinsk (22,000 Jews) and one city in Palestine, Tiberias, have more
than 8oper cent, of Jews in their total population. The percentage
of Jews to the total population in some others of the larger cities
is as follows : Salonica 45 (90,000 Jews), Minsk 55 (50,000 Jews),
Jerusalem 55 (55,000 Jews), Kishinefi 50 (50,000 Jews), Lodz 47^
(150,000 Jews), Wilna 40 (64,000 Jews), Odessa 34 (135,000 Jews),
Warsaw 33 (213,000 Jews), Budapest 23 (168,985 Jews), Bucharest
15 (43,000 Jews), Amsterdam 11 (60,000 Jews), Vienna 9 (175,000
Jews), Frankfort S (24,000 Jews), Constantinople 6 (65,000 Jews),
Berlin 5 (100,000 Jews), London 2 (140,000 Jews), Paris 2 (55,000
Jews), Chicago 9 (185,000 Jews), Philadelphia 8 (100,000 Jews).
270 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
in the hands of the missionaries for many years, but
the translation of the Old Testament by Marcus Berg-
mann, a missionary of the London City Mission, was
printed only a few years ago. The British and Foreign
Bible Society has now at work a committee for a revision
of the Bergmann version of the Old and New Testaments,
and is looking forward to the publication of the Yiddish
Bible in a cheap edition in the near future.
In the United States the number of Yiddish- speaking
Jews is so large that the Central Conference of American
Rabbis has decided to publish its tracts in Yiddish also.
Reform Jews and the younger generation in the countries
of Central and Western Europe and of the United States,
however, to some extent despise Yiddish and prefer
the language of the country in which they dwell, even
tliough the}^ understand Yiddish. The Jews of Northern
Africa and a few of those in Holland, Spain, Turkey,
and Palestine, speak the Judceo-Spanish, or Ladino.
3. Religious Condition. — Religiously the Jews may
be divided into two large classes — Reform and Ortho-
dox Jev/s. Both agree on the following fundamental
principles : (i) The universe is the work of one all-
wise, all-governing, and all-directing God ; (2) The
world's history is guided by a divine purpose ; (3) Right-
eousness and justice are the principles which should con-
trol men's actions ; (4) Every man is responsible for his
conduct to his conscience, and through his conscience
to God.
Reform Judaism originated in Germany in the days
of Moses Mendelssohn, 1729-86, but has had its fullest
development through Rabbi Isaac M. Wise and others
in the United States since 1850. Its followers are found
also in Great Britain, France, and Italy, and belong almost
exclusively to the educated classes. It has no common creed.
Christian methods in worship and church work are to some
extent imitated, and the generally accepted principle that
" Judaism is a changeable quantity " is in some cases
carried so far that the religious services are held on
the fir$t day of the week. The Central Conference of
THE JE¥7S 271
American Rabbis, through a tract, " What Do Jews
Believe ? " asserts its adherence to the fundamental
principles stated above, and describes the following
beliefs of Reform Jews : (i) The world is not tainted
with sin, and there is no devil ; (2) There is no original
sin, no fall of man, and, therefore, no need of a vicarious z,.
atonement. " Man bears the impress of the Divine
image in his soul, and it is his highest duty to realise
this Divine nature and enact it in his life. . . . There-
fore,"TroIiTiess ought to be the chief pursuit of man;"
(3) The Scriptures of the Old Testament " contain the
highest revelation of God possessed by mankind. . . .
The actual writing and editing took place in the usual
human fashion. . . . The choice of Israel for the Divine
Revelation does not preclude the view that God has spoken
to other peoples as well." Thus Revelation is universal.
(4) The soul is immortal and survives the dissolution
of the body, " but just what occurs after death, and
what the state of the soul is, the purest teaching of,_
Judaism has never attempted to define." Reform
Jews " are sure that the soul of man is not put out
altogether, and that the hfe, with its struggles and suffer-
ings and failures, will be rightly dealt with by the Lord
of Righteousness." (5) They entertain no_Jiope of a
personal Messiah. They expect the coming of a Messianic
AgeT^when humanity will enjoy the reign of righteous-
ness, and all shall unite in the worship of the one
God. Toward this ideal all men should aspire, and
to Israel was given the task of making it a reahty,
no matter how much trial and suffering it may
involve.
ToReforrnJews, Israel is no longer a nation. Regarding
Jesus^ofT^azareth many of the rabbis use language hke
this : " We believe that Jesus was one of the greatest of
prophets — a great moral teacher, one of the noblest of
God's creations, with Moses and Isaiah. We do not give
Him the attribute^ of deity, but of divinity ,_and therejs_a ^y
^ark of divinity in us all." -^
Orthodox Jew^ of to-day cHng to a system of religion
272 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
which is Rabbinism or Talmudism pure and simple. They
accept as creed the thirteen articles of faith formulated
by Maimonides at the close of the twelfth century, but the
Talmud, Which contains the traditions of the fathers, is
of at least equal authority with the written Law of Moses.
Orthodox Jews may be subdivided into three groups :
(i) Jews of North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Mesopo-
tamia, Asia Minor, European Turkey, parts of Austria —
Hungary, Poland, Russia, and America ; that is, the
majority of all Jews. These show few elements of
general culture, but possess a most extensive knowledge
of traditional literature, to which they cling tenaciously,
and have considerable acquaintance with the Old Testa-
ment. (2) Many Jews in America and those living in
the western half of Europe. They rapidly acquire
general culture and adopt the customs and languages of
the countries in which they dwell. Their knowledge of
Rabbinism and the Old Testament is good, but they are
losing faith, and their children are loo often infidel and
irreligious. (3) Nominal Jews in the interior of Africa,
in Arabia, East India, China, Persia, Turkestan, and
Bokhara. These are in a low grade of civilisation, pre-
serving but scanty rehcs of the religion of their fathers,
these relics being of a rabbinic sort. To this group
belong the Falashas of Abyssinia, the Jews in the oases
of the Sahara, the Riff Jews in Morocco, the Rechabites
in Arabia, the Beni Israel and the Black Jews of
India.
In a general way it can well be said that the Jews the
world over are religiously disintegrating and that the
younger generation is drifting away from the religion of
the fathers.
II. THE WORK ACCOMPLISHED
The following table shows the number of Jewish
mi sionary societies throughout the world on January ist,
1909. It might lead the superficial observer to think
that the Jewish field is comparatively well occupied,
THE JEWS
273
American and Canadian
Societies .
Asiatic Societies .
Australasian Societies
British Societies .
Continental Societies
South African Society
Totals
W
Cfl
w
U
OJ
'u
o
1
<
1
3
0
Female
Missionari
>
IS
e2
44
6
I
4
72
71
2S
16S
4
...
p
...
8
8
2
2
2
2
28
8
135
13
342
247
109
698
16
8
29
4
44
17
15
76
I
2
I
...
I
...
...
I
95
24
222
21
461
343
149
953
but the following considerations will quickly change that
thought. The United States seem to lead, but the
societies average but one station and three workers, while
the equipment and the financial support of most of the
American Jewish missionary societies must also be called
unsatisfactory. Only one American society, the Nor-
wegian Lutheran, employs a labourer among Jews out-
sidF'of Its ownT^ountry. The British societies stand
foremost in size and organisation and in equipment and
income, but are not as efficient as they might be. As
the Statistical Atlas shows, wide sections of Jewry in
Eastern Europe, in Asia, and in Africa remain untouched,
and even in the United States, cities with large Jewish
populations have no Jewish missionaries.
I. The Character of the Work Done. — Much emphasis has
been laid upon the preaching of the Word of God especially
to Jewish men, and hundreds of thousands of New
Testaments and miUions of Christian tracts in the languages
familiar to Jews have been distributed. Successful efforts
for reaching the Jewish women have been made at last,
after it had been considered for many years an almost
impossible thing. Medical missionaries have been ^gladly
received by the Jewish masses everywhere, even the
most bigoted Orthodox Jews of Eastern Europe, Northern
COM. I. — 18
i>74 CARRYING THE GOSREL
A'rica, and Palestine seeking in difficult cases the aid of
the mission doctor in preference to that of physicians of their
own race. Educational work among Jewish children,
especially that carried on by the London Jews' Society
and the two great Scottish societies, has attracted such
crowds of children that it is almost impossible to accom-
modate them. This is the more remarkable because
work among the children is far more bitterly opposed by
Jewish leaders than any other effort.
2. Classes Reached. — Jewish missionary efforts still
remain largely confined to the so-called lower classes,
IM^ though here and there an attempt has been made also to
reach the well-educated Jews, either through special
literature or personal visits. In the United States and in
Northern Germany these cultured Jews are very frequently
reached and influenced by the pastors within whose
parishes they live, so that it seems as if the work among
them can be better done in that way than by missions,
the very name of which they despise. In a general way
it may be said that Austro-Hungarian, Polish, and
Russian Jews prove more accessible to the Gospel than
others, though it would be unwise to set any limit to the
power of the Word of God and of His Holy Spirit.
3. Results Achieved. — The measurement of the success
of missions to the Jews by the number of baptisms should
be earnestly deprecated. Many of the missions do not aim
at baptisms and incorporation into the visible Church, but
at evangelisation only. Others are so situated that they
cannot take care of the converts in the face of persecutions
and are forced to send them to other cities or countries.
Many of the Jews converted under the preaching of the
Gospel in a Jewish mission are afraid to let the missionary
know and, changing often even the land of their abode,
are baptized later in some Christian Church or in
another mission. Of the Jews brought to Christ by the
reading of the New Testament or Christian literature
distributed by the missionaries itinerating among the
Jewish masses of Eastern Europe, a small percentage
only are baptized in missions or become known to th^
THE JEWS 275
missionaries.^ In Jewish missionary work it is true that
one soweth and ^another reapeth, both rejoicing together.
The progress of the Gospel among the Jews cannot be
illustrated by statistical tables unless these tables contain
also the figures pertaining to Jewish baptisms in Churches
not connected with missions.
Most assuredly the Word of the Lord has not returned
void unto Him, wherever it has been preached to the
Jews in sincerity and in faith. Thousands of Jewish
men, women, and children, have confessed their faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ in public baptism and have borne
the burden of the fierce persecutions which still are the
portion of most of the Jewish believers in Christ. Many
more, however, have become secret believers, lacking,
alas, the courage for a public profession. Of the Jewish
children who received Christian training in the missionary
schools, many have been converted, but, in the majority
of cases, were xorced to postpone a public profession of
their faith until they were of age. Other children had
received such deep and lasting impressions, that years
after they had left the missionary schools they sought
and found Christ and were baptized. The direct results
of Jewish missions are not less encouraging than those
of missions among the heathen.
The indirect results of Jewish missions are also valuable ^
and important. Even where the preaching of the Gospel
to the Jews has not led to conversion and baptism, it
has set before the people true Christianity as they have
never known it before. Widely scattered and eagerly
read New Testaments and Christian literature have given
them an extensive acquaintance with the tenets of
Biblical Christianity and have undoubtedly stimulated the
1 This is well illustrated by the following facts: of 1072
Jews baptized in American Churches from 1895 to 1901 only
217 were reported by American Jewish Missions. But 891, or
more than 83 per cent, of all, stated that they had received their
first ideas of Christianity, their first New Testament, or tracts,
from missionaries. Of these 891, more than 65 per cent.
(582), had been won to Christ before they crossed the Atlantic,
bat probably very few of them had told the missionary of the
influence that he had exerted in their case.
276 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
study of the Old Testament and its prophecies. The
estabUshment of medical missions and well-equipped
hospitals has given to the Jewish masses a glimpse of
true Christian love providing liberally for the suffering
and poor of their race. The missionary educational
institutions have offered to the Jewish boys and girls an
opportunity for training for greater usefulness and higher
achievements, and they have undoubtedly contributed
much to the elevation of the Eastern^ Jewish woman
from that state of degradation into which Talmudism yi
had thrust her. • ~^~
Jewish missionary work has proved a good antidote to
the anti-Christian influence of Jewish persecutions, to the
unjust Anti-semitism especially active upon the Continent
of Europe, and to that popular prejudice against the
Jewish race which is found even among English and
American Christians. It has levelled prejudices against
Christ and Christianity and has already overcome anti-
pathies toward the messengers of the Gospel to such an
extent that the Jews of the present day are more access-
ible to the missionary than those of ten years ago.
III. THE TASK REMAINING
Jewish missions are only in their infancy and we cannot
conscientiously say that any part of the world field, except
perhaps London, is adequately occupied. No effort is
being made to reach the Reform Jews in Germany and
the United States, and none whatever to reach the Ortho-
dox Jews in Central Asia. Russia's Jewish millions are
still languishing without the Gospel, and indeed in almost
every part of the world the Jews are greatly neglected.
On account of the scattered condition of the Jews it
is impossible to give an estimate of the number and
classes of missionaries still needed. We feel, however,
that Jewish missions are in such a peculiar condition
to-day as to demand unusual measures to ensure, under
God. their progress.
Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ — Himself after
THE JEWS 277
the flesh a Jew — should give to the presentation
of Christ to the Jew its rightful place in the Great Com-
mission. It is not a task to be left to a few enthusiastic
believers, but the obligation and responsibility of the
whole Christian Church. The Gospel must be preached
to the Jew wherever he may be found.
For centuries the Church has paid little heed to the
missionary message of the Apostle to the Gentiles,
" There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek."
Both are sinners, for both have come short of the glory
God, arid b^oth need a Saviour, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet the Church has acted as thougFif^elieved otherwise.
The attitude of the Christian to the Jew has not been
merely one of neglect but of bitter hostility. Reparation
is due for the contempt and injustice meted outbjTthe
Christian Church and its members to the race into which
its Founder was born and out of which He drew His first
disciples. Christianity was born in Judaism and owes a
debt to bring the Jew home at last to the fold of Christ.
There is urgent need, therefore, that the Church should
change its attitude toward an enterprise which is carrying
out an essential part of our Lord's Great Commission.
The spasmodic efforts to bring the Jew to Christ must
be replaced by missions as strong, persistent, and sym-
pathetic as those among other races of mankind. Many
of the difficulties are -of the Church's own creating ; and
will disappear with a deeper faith in the power of God
through the Gospel and a wiser approach imbued with
a truer sympathy. No other methods are needed than
those which have been blessed in the past among both
Jews and Gentiles. The issue remains unchanged. It
is still Jesus whom the Jew must accept or reject.
Reform Jewish Rabbis in the United States may speak
of Him in flattering terms, and accept Him as one of the
great prophets and teachers of mankind, but the gulf
between them and Christianity remains practically as
wide as that which must be crossed by the Orthodox
Jew [^before he acknowledges the Lordship, Divinity,
and Mcssiahship of Jesus of Nazareth.
278 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The time to reach the Jews with the Gospel is now,
when they are rapidly drifting away from the faith of
their fathers and are groping for something, they know
not what. The Jews are becoming more and more an
integral part of Christian cities, strongly influencing and
often even dominating them by their enormous and
increasing wealth and by their remarkable intellectual
ability. However far they may have drifted, there still
remains with them that inherent rehgious instinct, that
capacity to appreciate great moral and spiritual truths
which has characterised them throughout their history,
and which, consecrated to the service of Christ, will enrich
and revitalise Christianity itself. " For if the casting
away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall
be the receiving of them, but life from the dead."
UNOCCUPIED SECTIONS OF THE
WORLD
The investigations and discussions of this section of the
Commission's Report are justified and demanded both by
the claims which Christianity makes and by the command
of our Lord. Christianity claims to be, for all ages and
peoples, the all sufficient and the only sufficient religion.
A moral obhgation attaches itself to such a claim. If
Christianity be the only sufficient religion for all the world,
it should be given to all the world. Christ's command
also lays upon the Church an obligation for nothing less
than a world-wide promulgation of the Gospel.
To survey the unoccupied sections of the world, with
a view to the speedy and complete occupation of these
areas, must awaken interest, expectancy, and faith. A
world survey, with this aim, provides, therefore, some of the
strongest incentives for missionary effort. It develops the
right attitude of mind toward the whole missionary enter-
prise, carrying with it the pledge of complete realisation.
Unoccupied sections fall naturally into two main
groups : (i) Sections untouched and not included in any
existing scheme of missionary operation. (2) Sections
included within the scheme of existing missionary opera-
tions, but not yet occupied.
I. SECTIONS UNTOUCHED AND NOT INCLUDED IN ANY
EXISTING SCHEME OF MISSIONARY OPERATION
It is a most solemnising fact that what might be called
the heart of each of the two great continents of Asia and
Africa is still unoccupied territory, after more than a
century of the modern missionary era.
279
280 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
I. Large Integral Areas. — (a) In Asia. — This survey of
unoccupied territory in Asia starts in Manchuria, at
approximately the 125° of east longitude. Here the pro-
vince of Halung-kianghas a population of 1,500,000 with
only one mission station recently established. Westward
the needs of 2,000,000, out of a total of 2,600,000 nomadic
Mongols and Kalmucks, come into view in the vast and,
for the most part, desert stretches of Mongolia, for only
three mission stations are found in this territory. Still
westward lies the Chinese province of Sin-kiang, con-
sisting of Chinese Turkestan, Kuldja, Zungaria, and outer
Kan-su, with a population of 1,200,000. The establish-
ment of three missionary outposts within this territory — at
Yarkand, Kashgar, and Urumtsi — alone prevent its entire
inclusion in this sweep of unoccupied territory ; but none
of these stations is in outer Kan-su. Southward, there-
fore, through outer Kan-su, Tibet is reached. Here are
6,000,000 people as yet wholly destitute of missionary
ministration. South of Tibet are the two native states
of Bhutan and Nepal, with an aggregate population of
over 5,000,000, without a Christian missionary. West of
Tibet a slender wedge of missionary stations driven up
through Kashmir is beginning to break the unity of the
unoccupied territory in the heart of Asia.
Farther to the west, Afghanistan appears. Here are
4,000,000, whose needs have been set forth in greater
detail elsewhere, and who are without a Christian mis-
sionary. North of Afghanistan are Bokhara, with a
population of 1,250,000, chiefly Mohammedans, and
Khiva, with a population of 800,000, also for the most
part Mohammedans, and in addition there are 5,000,000
Mohammedans of Russian Turkestan — all of these without
any regular mission station or missionary. At last, the
mission stations of Persia appear.
The territory just surveyed has brought into view a
land almost equal in area to the whole of the United
States, excluding Alaska, and a population of more than
26,000,000.
On the very edge of the great continent is another
UNOCCUPIED SECTIONS 281
vast section of Asia, within which are to be found
no missions save a few carried on b}^ the Roman
Catholic Church. French Indo-China to the south-east,
with a population of 21,500,000,^ is practically
without Protestant missionary work, for only in the
city of Song-Khone, in this vast territory, has there been
established an independent mission. This region has three
Swiss workers and a French colporteur of the British and
Foreign Bible Society.
The survey thus far has presented 48,000,000 of Asia's
population in sections unoccupied by missionary
agencies.
{b) In Africa. — To a far greater degree than even in
the case of Asia, the heart of Africa constitutes a vast
unoccupied field. This area of unrelieved gloom, beginning
almost immediately back of the Mediterranean coast, west
of Egypt, includes the following countries and peoples
without missionaries : Barka with 100,000 of the Ben
Gliazi tribe; Tunis, south of the Httoral, with 1,000,000
inhabitants ; 900,000 in Tripoli ; almost 1,300,000 in
the province of Oran, and 400,000 in the southern territory
of Algeria ; 2,260,000 in the Atlas Riff country, the
Mulaya Valley, the Sus Valley, and the Sahara district of
Morocco; 800,000 in Portuguese Guinea; about 1,700,000
in French Guinea ; 800,000 in Dahomey ; 500,000 in the
Ivory Coast; Eastern Liberia, with 1,500,000 pagans;
the northern districts of Togo ; sections of Nigeria,
especially to the north-east, whose population would
approximate 6,000,000 ; 3,000,000 in the eastern part of
Kamerun : 8,000,000 in the French Congo, besides4,ooo,ooo
of the Baghirmi, Kanem, and Wadai districts ; at least
20,000,000 out of the 30,000,000 of the Belgian Congo ;
about 2,000,000 in the north-eastern and south-eastern
sections of the Portuguese territory of Angola : 2,500,000
in Portuguese East Africa ; large districts in German
East Africa, with an aggregate population of about
3,000,000 ; sections of British East Africa, especially to
the north and north-east; 750,000 in the Italian, British
^See Statesman''s Year Book.
282 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
and French Somali lands ; and 1,000,000 in the Egyptian
Sudan, chiefly west of the White Nile. Scattered over a
territory which is vast, even without including the desert
stretches of the Sahara, and which is fairly unified, there
are therefore to be found in Africa about 70,000,000
people, more than one-third of the population of the
entire Continent, without any existing agency having
plans actually projected for their evangelisation. These
figures are overwhelming, and they become more so when
it is pointed out that the extent of the effective influence
of existing missionary agencies has probably been greatly
overestimated. The question can be seriously raised,
Has tlie Church more than made a beginning in the evan-
gelisation of the Dark Continent ?
2. Smaller Integral Areas. — In addition to these great
stretches of unoccupied territory, there are also, especially
in Asia, other integral areas smaller in size, yet constitut-
ing distinct geographical units and wholly without any
missionary provision.
In Arabia the provinces of Nejd, Hejaz, and Hadra-
maut are unoccupied. These provinces have a population
of perhaps 3,000,000, for whom no missionary agency
labours.
East of the Jordan in Syria are sections of country,
with an aggregate population of 550,000 inhabitants,
where no missionary works.
In the Sinaitic Peninsula there is no missionary or
mission station ; here are 50,000 people.
In the Malay Peninsula, the districts of Kedah, Tren-
gannu, and Kelantan have recently come under the
British flag. This population of perhaps 1,000,000 has
no Christian missionary.
In addition to these areas, whose population is con-
siderable, there are a large number of areas whose in-
dividual populations are more limited, and of which a
complete list may not be attempted here. Such areas
are to be found not only in Asia and Africa, but also in
the Island World, and in both North and South America
where Esquimaux or Indians are to be found.
UNOCCUPIED SECTIONS 283
11. SFXTIONS INCLUDED WITHIN THE SCHEME OF EXISTING
MISSIONARY OPERATIONS, BUT NOT YET OCCUPIED
Impressive and overwhelming as may be the broad
survey of these unoccupied fields, which has brought into
view 122,000,000 people without missionary provision,
there are other unoccupied fields which appear to be of
possibly greater importance. These are the areas which
are included within the scheme of existing missionary
operations, but which are not yet occupied.
A special consideration _ of these unoccupied sections
is necessary because their needs are so easily and so often
overlooked. The fact that they are regarded as lying
within or adjoining the sphere of influence of some
missionary organisation leads to their dismissal from the
thought of the Church as though provided for. Yet
careful investigation shows that such sections are as
destitute as those other sections which are farther
removed from existing missionary agencies, and which
stand out distinctly upon the map as the great un-
occupied fields.
Judging from investigations made, it is believed that
a complete survey would show that the populations of
these areas would, in the aggregate, exceed the large
total of unoccupied areas already considered. A further
consideration in favour of the prompt occupation of these
sections is found in the fact that provision could be made
for their needs more economically than for the needs
of remote sections. The mere extension of adjoining
missions by reinforcements would ordinarily constitute
the simplest, wisest and most effective plan for the speedy
occupation of most of these areas.
In spite of the considerations urging a survey of these
unoccupied fields, and in spite of considerable effort to
accomplish such a survey, it was not found possible to
accomplish this work in time for use in this Report. In
the Appendix ^ the difficulties which have been en-
countered are enumerated, and suggestions are offered
» See Appendix B, p. 393,
2<S4 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
for the future accomplishment of this work. Let it
suffice to state here that the investigations which have
been made create a profound conviction that, in the
aggregate, the unoccupied and destitute areas, which lie
within or closely adjoin the spheres of influence of ex-
isting missionary agencies, present the most extensive,
the most pressing, and the most pathetic need of the
missionary world — because the Gospel, which is the
power of God unto salvation, is so near and yet so remote
from the people in these neglected regions.
III. CAUSES OF NEGLECT
The discovery of great stretches of unoccupied territory
and of populations aggregating so many millions must
rebuke missionary apathy and awaken some sense of
the urgency for im^mediate action. If the problem is
to be solved, there must be a careful study of the causes
which have contributed to the creation of these conditions
of neglect. Among these causes are the following : —
I. Isolation Due to Absence of Exploration or Difficulty of
A ccess. — Without losing sight of the fact that missionary
work has provided many of the most powerful incentives
as well as many of the most effective agencies for geo-
graphical exploration, it remains true that in certain
great sections of the world as yet unoccupied by Christian
forces, missionary work has been arrested by the absence
of such exploration. Many sections of Africa, such as
the hinterland of the Mediterranean littoral, and parts
of the interior removed from great river highways, are
calling for twentieth - century missionaries who, like
David Livingstone, will view " the end of the geographical
feat as the beginning of the missionary enterprise ! "
Such is also the case in the great unoccupied stretches
of Central Asia, to a considerable degree in Arabia, and
in more limited fields like Borneo, New Guinea, and many
other islands.
In other cases, while the lands have been measurably
explored, they are without means of transportation. It
UNOCCUPIED SECTIONS 285
has been pointed out that " no greater revolution was
worked in the last century than that which diverted the
great highways of the world from the overland routes to
the approach by sea." This has resulted in the abandon-
ment of many much-used caravan routes. Even where
these have been maintained by trade, it is more frequently
the Moslem trader who makes use of them to the extension
of his faith, while the Western traveller and the Christian
missionary are tempted to turn to the seaboard areas
and to leave the interior sections unvisited. However,
both political and industrial developments are preparing
highways for the Kingdom, and the day is not far distant
v/hen no country can be described as unexplored or
inaccessible.
2. Political Hindrances. — Vast territories have been
closed to the missionary enterprises for political reasons,
often based upon or accentuated by religious antagonism.
Tibet still forbids entrance to the Christian missionary.
The two independent kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan,
lying along the northern frontier oi IncUa, are generally
considered closed to the missionary. Certain native
States, representing smaller areas in India, either have
no resident missionary or are wholly untouched by any
missionary work because of political prohibitions, for
example, the Tributary States of Surguja, Jashpur,
Korea and Chang Bhakar and the Independent State
of Tippera. In Afghanistan religious fanaticism unites
with political authority in excluding all Christian mis-
sionary effort. In sections of Arabia and of Northern
Africa a similar exclusion of Christian missions is sup-
posed to obtain.
Pohtical hindrance becomes a much more complex
problem when interposed by a Western Government.
Such political hindrance has been a great factor in the
almost total absence of Protestant Christian missions in
such large areas as the French colonial possessions in
Eastern Asia and in West and Central Africa. Elsewhere
it has limited and even threatened to wipe out estabhshed
missionary work, as in Madagascar.
286 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Nevertheless, it ought to be recognised that the re-
moval of political prohibitions can reasonably be hoped
for, and that, even where political restraints remain, much
may be done by indirect methods. In too many instances,
the supposed existence of political hindrance has been
allowed to discourage the Church from even making the
effort to enter a given field. The promise has not yet been
fully tested : " Knock and it shall be opened unto you."
In other instances, there has not been a worthy and
united effort on the part of all Christendom to exert its
influence for the removal of these hindrances through
some central authority representing the entire missionary
movement. Nor has the Church tested fully the power
of God, who can burst every barrier and open every door.
Nearly all the fields were considered closed at one time,
and no field has ever opened its doors save through prayer,
effort, and sacrifice.
3. Lack of an Adequate and Comprehensive Vision. — The
neglect both of great integral and of scattered smaller
sections of the non-Christian world is directly traceable
to a lack of a comprehensive vision of the goal of missions.
The thought of carrying the Gospel to all the world has
not widely dominated missionary effort. The enterprise
has been viewed too frequently from the standpoint of
])rogress made and not sufficiently from that of the_work
to be done. Unoccupied territory has, therefore, been
looked upon in the light of a worthy opportunity for
missionary effort rather than as a ground for humiliation
and rebuke because of missionary neglect. The destitu-
tion of innumerable small areas within or adjoining
mission fields regarded as occupied, has not received due
emphasis. The absence of a comprehensive plan for
carrying the Gospel to all the world is responsible also for
the absence of any agency correlating the missionary
operations of the several societies or boards representing
Christendom. Important areas have therefore remained
unoccupied because not definitely committed for evangelisa-
tion to any agency.
UNOCCUPIED SECTIONS 287
IV. SOLVING THE PROBLEM
If the Church is to remove the reproach that, in this
twentieth century of the Christian era, so much of the
world's population is without any agency aiming to bring
to it the Gospel message, definite plans must be pro-
jected and definite action must be taken.
1 . There must be knowledge of the facts. There has been
ignorance of the true situation. The absence of representa-
tives of missionary societies in unoccupied areas has robbed
these of the very agencies by which their spiritual destitu-
tion could be made known and their needs voiced to
the Christian world. Some central organisation or com-
mittee is desirable to press the investigations referred
to in another section,^ and to place before the Christian
Church the knowledge of the need which will lead to its
being met.
2. There must be strategic planning for the future.
Much territory is at present unoccupied, not merely
because of a lack of missionary resources, but also because
of a lack of wise direction of the missionary activities
of the past. Some provision must be made, therefore,
within the Church, not only for making known the needs
of these fields, but also for determining the societies
which should occupy them, and the best method and
moment for effecting such occupation.
3. The effective occupation of these now unoccupied
areas will call for the strengthening of existing missions
by reinforcements, both of men and of money, so as to
enable them fully to occupy the territories which they
now claim, and to reach out into those innumerable
smaller areas adjoining their mission fields, in which no
work is now being carried on.
4. There is need, also, for the establishment of missions
within the unoccupied territories which are far removed
from established missions. It is especially desirable
that such new missions should so far as possible be in-
augurated by the existing missionary societies. The
1 See Appendix B,
288 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
problems to be solved in entering new fields are excep-
tionally difficult and this calls for the wisdom, experience,
and resources of well-established missionary organisations!
It would" nol be wise, however, for those missionary
societies and agencies, whose resources are limited and
whose burdens are already large, to attempt the estab-
lishment of new missions to the impoverishment of older
stations and the weakening of existing work. The " far-
flung battle line " of the army of God is even now, at
many points, a perilously slender line. It must not be
made more slender still, not even for the sake of extension.
In case the existing missionary societies do not find it
practicable to extend their work to certain unoccupied
fields, it may become necessary to start new societies
in order to meet the need, but this should be done in such
a way as not to diminish the number of workers or the
financial resources of other organisations, but rather in
such a way as will' enlist enlarged giving and result in
sending out, as it were, a new regiment.
5. The ideal of carrying the Gospel to all the world
must be Hfted and steadily upheld. There should be a
fuller recognition of the world-wide scope of the Com-
mission which our Lord gave to His Church. A serious
effort to occupy all the unoccupied fields and to carry the
Gospel to all the world must be made a test of the Church's
loyalty to Christ's command. The Church has abundant
resources for the unfinished task, not in some fields but
in the whole world. With a spirit of co-operation among
missionary agencies, with a recognition of their unity of
purpose and of their fellowship in their common Lord,
with a proper distribution of the responsibihty and burden
of this world enterprise, with a comprehensive plan for
world occupation, and, above all, with a humble depend-
ence upon the enabling grace of Him who gave the Com-
mission, none dare deny that this task may speedily be
accomplished.
PART III
FACTORS IN CARRYING THE GOSPEL
TO ALL THE NON = CHRISTIAN
WORLD
THE DISPOSITION OF THE FORCES
The study of the pcoblejiL of carrying the Gospel to the ^
non-Christian world involves the question of how best to
utilise the comparatively insufficient yet valuable force at
the disposal of the Church so as to make Christ known to
the largest possible number of people and to build up
strong and enduring Churches. On this point perhaps
more than on any other have the correspondents in the
various mission fields given a full expression of opinion
based upon individual or local experiences. The attempt
will be made to indicate, in the light of such experiences,
the conditions and principles which should influence this
distribution or disposition of the forces.
I. DENSITY OF POPULATION
One factor in determining the distribution of the
missionary forces is the density of the population to be
evangelised. Wherever the population is very sparse,
as among the nomads of Central Asia or among the
American Indians, it is wise policy to establish stations
where it will be possible to influence at least a few hundreds
of the natives or one or two tribes. Of necessity there
will not be many workers at such stations since the
COM. I. — 19
290 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
number to be reached is so small. The same principle
will apply to parts of Africa where in large areas the
population is sparse and the tribes are separated by long
stretches. Wherever the circumstances suggest the dis-
tribution of the forces over a wide area, or over groups of
islands like the New Hebrides, a sufficient staff should be
sent to permit of having stations near enough to each
other so that isolated workers may have the benefit from
time to time of taking counsel together and of helping
one another.
Quite different is the situation in such densely popu-
lated countries as India, China, and Japan, where great
cities, whose influence radiates over a large surrounding
district, and numberless villages within a comparatively
limited area provide imlimited opportunities for mission
work. In such regions the method of procedure should
be to establish strong stations adequately manned.
They should be able not only to maintain their own
vigorous life but also to put forth aggressive efforts on
behalf of the surrovmding population. In these densely
populated districts a mission may choose between two
principles. Either it may concentrate its attention on the
building up of the Christian community which is already
under its influence, expanding its work only so far as what
it does among the Christians brings the mission into
contact with the surrounding non - Christian peoples.
This may be described as a policy of concentration in
order to diffusion. Where this policy aims at developing
a strong native Church, animated from the first by the
evangelistic spirit, it may in the end yield the more
satisfactory result. Or, the mission may direct its efforts
mainly to the surrounding non-Christian peoples with the
view of evangelising the whole region as speedily as
possible, while seeking at the same time to care for the
training of the Christian population. It might seem at
first thought as if this policy of diffusion were the only
course adequate to the situation, but, if it be attended
with success, it requires inevitably to be followed by a
policy of concentration. For the fact is that wherever
DISPOSITION OF THE FORCES 291
mass movements or widespread evangelisation have
brought in great numbers of non-Christians and the
desire for Christian instruction has become general, the
importance of following up the work begun among the
enquirers and converts is so great as to absorb the major
energies of the missionaries owing to the importance of
following up thoroughly the enquirers and converts.
It is a deplorable fact that certain hopeful mass move-
ments have largely failed simply because the missions
related to these movements were not sufficiently manned
to conserve the results. Yet the primary missionary
instinct is toward wide evangelistic effort and toward
pressing out further and further into the jm evangelised
regions, and the cry, albeit a silent cry, of thelmevan-
gelised cannot be disregarded. It would be fatal to the
life of the Church if it could.
II. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS
The unfavourable climate of certain fields has an
important bearing on the disposition of the forces. One
of the sad chapters in the history of modern missions
is the record of attempts unguided by the experience
of long established boards, and therefore resulting in the
inauguration of missions without sufficient safeguards
n gainst unnecessary suffering and loss. The risks to be
laced constitute no vahd reason for holding back. On
tlie contrary such sacrifices as have been involved have
not been without their large fmitage and have also been
to many a zealous soul a romantic and inspiring call.
The occupation of such fields should be governed by the
experience gained often at great cost. Stations should
be manned with a sufficient number of workers to prevent,
so far as possible, their breakdown in health, and workers
should be within easy reach of medical help. The
different stations, likewise, should be wisely located and
equipped with reference to protecting the health of the
workers. More frequent furloughs should be taken, and
vacations at health resorts on or near the different fields
2D2 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
should be insisted upon. These matters of prudence
are of great importance in the economy of missions.
III. THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE
The temperamental characteristics, the state of culture
and the religion of the people to be evangeUsed have much
to do with determining the disposition of the forces. It
makes a great deal of difference whether the people are
ignorant and superstitious tribes in the heart of Africa
or whether they constitute the highly civilised inhabi-
tants of the more enlightened parts of the Orient, who may
in addition have availed themselves of Western education.
The former will not require as large and complex a mis-
sionary staff as the latter. There are some races which
liave shown a singular readiness to accept the Gospel,
such as the people of Uganda, Korea, and some of the
islands of the Pacific. Among such peoples a more
diffused effort is obviously more practicable and effective
than it would be among peoples less easily influenced.
A comparatively small number of well-qualified mis-
sionaries, if properly related to each other, can in the
midst of such a population kindle into flame a whole
countryside. But even here the need soon develops for
strong centres in order to consolidate the results and
build up a powerful and abiding Church.
The difficulties presented by different religions also
have a bearing on the question of the number and dis-
tribution of workers. The great and highly organised
religions present a stronger resistance than the simpler
nature worship of barbarous tribes. Perhaps it might
be laid down as an axiom that whatever force is stationed
in a district ought to be of sufficient strength and equip-
ment to make itself felt in spite of all the difficulties.
IV. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MISSIONS
The historical development of missions has had and
still has a strong influence in determining the disposition
DISPOSITION OF THE FORCES 293
of the missionary forces. It is a commonplace to point
out that mission stations have to a large extent been
occupied not upon any definite plan, but as circumstances
permitted or the way opened. For example, prior to
1841 it was almost impossible to establish regular mission
stations in China. As a result the missionaries settled
among Chinese immigrants in places like Singapore,
Bangkok, and Batavia. In the second period of China's
missions, 1841-62, but five treaty ports were open to
the missionaries. Many missionaries entered China in
this period and the result was a strong concentration of
forces at these few centres. As a rule missionary
societies__are__neluctant to withdraw except as a result
of unavoidable pressure, so that even after the wide
opening of China most of the societies continued to
maintain their positions in the treaty ports and to locate
in these places a disproportionate number of their workers.
While it is true that many of these workers minister to
areas lying back of these cities, it is doubtless equally
true that there is relatively an over-concentration of
missionaries in them. The purpose here is not to pass
a critical judgment on those who opened up the work
in such fields. For the most part they did the only
thing possible and under conditions of extreme difficulty
and discouragement. The more closely their record is
examined the greater is the appreciation of their labours
and the deeper the confidence in^ the^ overruling and
guiding hand of God. The problem of the Church of
Christ to-day is far otherwise. There is comparatively
little to hinder it from disposing of its forces in any way
which wisdom and experience suggest. The call of the
present is for a reconstruction of the policy of distribution
of the available missionary staff.
V. NUMBER AND CHARACTER OF THE MISSIONARIES
Another factor which largely influences the disposition
of available forces is the number and character ^ of the
missionary staff at the disposal of the missionary
294 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
societies. The training which missionaries receive before
they are sent out to the field varies both with different
societies, and, in the same society, with the positions
which they are to fill. The missionary who is to serve
as general supervisor or director of the work in an isolated
place requires an all-round training. Those who are to
work in groups in the large centres require, as a rule, a
more highly specialised training. Among the members
of a simple race, possessing a narrow .horizon and a
restricted religious world, one missionary of compre-
hensive missionary attainments may be able to overtake
a large range of missionary activities. He may be
able to preach the Gospel, teach in the school, care
for the sick, guide in the learning',' of trades, and
engage in itineration in the surrounding country. It
must be admitted, however, that even under such con-
ditions it is often advisable to establish medical or in-
dustrial work calling for men with larger professional
or expert training. It should be added that work
among primitive peoples has too often been greatly
retarded by failure to make suitable provision for the
Christian training of women. At every station the
force should be planned with a view to meeting all
the needs requiring to be met at each particular stage
of the work. The more advanced the culture life of
the people, the more demand there is for specialisation
in missionary work. Moreover, wherever there is a
special need for work among women, because of their
seclusion in zenanas or harems, the specialised form of
women's work for women becomes necessary. Wherever
higher education is permitted in order to gain access to
the influential classes of the nation, large establishments
manned by p educationists will be required. It is both
natural and desirable that various classes of institutions
u
working on widely different lines, and influencing different
sections of the population, should be grouped together
at large centres ; and this results in a concentration of
missionary forces.
An outstanding impression made upon the Commission
DISPOSITION OF THE FORCES 295
by the study of the problem is the numerical inadequacy
of the present missionary staff. We must not lose sight
of the great ideal — the making of Christ known to all
people. A spirit of faith demands the vision of a greatly
reinforced army. The efficient occupation of every field
must be continuously kept in view and striven for until
it is accomplished. The disposition of the present
available forces should be determined in view of the
expected realisation of this ideal.
VI. NUMBER AND CHARACTER OF NATIVE WORKERS
A further factor of great importance is the native
agency. The section of this report bearing on the
Native Church as a factor in carrying the Gospel to all
the non-Christian world shows how essential and diversi-
fied are the services which well-trained native workers
are able to perform. As they become able to administer
the native Church and care for it spiritually, the mis-
sionaries are relieved of a great and important responsi-
bility, and can thus devote themselves more largely to
extending the missionary propaganda into unevangelised
regions. At the same time it is generally recognised that
the most highly multiplying work which the missionary
can do, in the interest of accomplishing the evangelisa-
tion of a country, is that of raising up and training an
adequate staff of native workers and of inspiring them
and co-operating with them in the work of evangelisatiorTT
Recent achievements in Manchuria, Korea, Livingstonia,
and Uganda suggest the great evangelising possibilities
of the native workers and leaders.
VII. NEEDS OF NEGLECTED AND DIFFICULT FIELDS
Though it may seem like a truism, one of the deter-
mining principles, and in some respects the most funda-
mental and distinctive principle, in determining the dis-
position of the forces is that of seeking to make Christ
known to all the people who know Him not. This
296 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
surely includes the most neglected and most difficult
fields. The Gospel is to be preached to all men.
Whilst it is obviously wise to push forward the work
along the lines of least resistance, it is not only bad
polic}^ but it is dislo3-alty to the Lord Jesus Christ^ To
neglect the great citadels of the non-Christian world. It
is high time that the Church thus deliberately and
resolutely attack some of these hitherto almost impreg-
nable fortresses.
It is believed by the Commission that a thorough
recognition and application of the principles here em-
phasised will accomplish large results in the direction
of the realisation of the great aim of carrying the Gospel
to all the non-Christian world. But if this is to be true,
it is imperative that the different missionary societies,
and the foreign and native leaders of the enterprise on
the field, make a fresh study of the present distribution
of the forces with reference to bringing about any necessary
readjustments and enlargements. The development of
missions has caused overlapping in some centres, and
absolute neglect in many others. Much can be done to
avoid overlapping not only in stations but also in different
branches of specialised work, such as colleges, hospitals,
literary work, and presses. It may be that reconstruction
wiU involve temporary sacrifice, some uprooting and
transplanting, and a large measure of mutual considera-
tion on the part of missionary societies working in the
same field. These, however, are merely difficulties to
be faced and overcome. The available forces are so
inadequate to the task that waste, friction, and in-
efficiency ought not to be tolerated. The courageous
rearrangement here called for will in some fields seem
almost impossible. The possession of mission property
may prove one of the greatest hindrances to such a
programme. But if it be right to be true to the ideal
before us, no question of property should stand in ^'^ the
Y^ way of the necessary changes. In some fields the re-
arrangements will require a new definition of the territory
for which each society is responsible.
DISPOSITION OF THE FORCES 297
In fields where there are several societies working, it
would be decidedly helpful to have a committee appointed
to consider the best allocation of the foreign and native
staff, not so much from the viewpoint of each particular
society, as from that of the Christian Church as a whole.
This committee should from time to time make a fresh
study of the plans and methods followed, and place the
results of its investigation and discussion at the dis-
posal both of the body of workers concerned on the
field and of the home societies.^ The Commission would
also express its conviction that the time has come
for the creation of an international committee, repre-
senting the missionary societies of Christendom, to make
a more scientific study than has hitherto been possible
of the needs and requirements of the non-Christian
world, and of the problems involved in the wisest and
most effective disposition of the forces of evangelisation.
All such plans and arrangements should ever be sub-
ordinated to the free and unerring working of the
Divine Spirit.
A most hopeful, significant, and inspiring fact is the
way in which an increasing number of leaders in the
missionary enterprise, both at home and abroad, have
come to recognise the responsibility of the Christian
Church to carry the Gospel literally to all the non-
Christian world, and to consider the claims of entire
nations, races, and religions, as contrasted with the
claims of the more restricted fields to which they are
directly related. Great gain will come to the Church
from this widening outlook, and from the practical con-
secration of Christians to realise this inspiring vision.
^ In this connection attention may be directed to the practical
working of the institution of the missionary consulate of the
Dutch East Indies. The missionary consul, primarily intended
as a link between missions and government, has also proved useful
in matters that may arise between different societies, and between
missionaries and their societies.
THE RELATION OF THE VARIOUS MIS-
SIONARY METHODS TO CARRYING
THE GOSPEL TO ALL THE NON-
CHRISTIAN WORLD
We deal with a question both of policy and strategy
when we enquire what are the lessons of experience as to
the most effective methods of approach and permanent
occupancy, in Christ's name, and in the interest of His
religion, of the great mission fields of the world. It is
apparent at once that the experience thus appealed to
must bring its testimony from greatly differing environ-
ments, and be modified to a considerable extent by
individual judgments and racial characteristics. It is
evident, too, that there are peculiar difficulties in
gauging the efficiency of different methods of work,
since this varies in different fields, and often in
different localities in the same field, and is itself
subject to possible change in an identical environment,
owing to the influence of times and circumstances.
It is plain, also, that some embarrassment must arise
from the fact that there is undoubted good, and a certain
measure of efficiency in all the methods in use in mission-
ary work, and that very cogent reasons may in some
instances be given for the use of many, if not all, methods
in one single field, each in its owiTsphefe doing the work'
which no other can do. It may thus happen that the
practical excellence and benefits of each and all of these
separate methods may present themselves so clearly and
obtrusively in such fields that judgment refuses to pro-
nounce upon the relative efficiencj^ and takes refuge in the
398
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 299
statement that all existing methods are needed, and that
all are equally to be desired, each in its proper place.
We may find an analogy to this situation in Nature.
In the cultivation of the soil, after the initial process of
clearing the land has been attended to there is a demand
for ploughing, for fertilisation, for sowing, perhaps for
watering, it may be for pruning, for the long slow process
of ripening, and for the thrusting in of the sickle when
the hour for harvesting comes. It would produce some-
thing like paralysis in the mind of the farmer to ask him
to decide as to the relative efficiency and usefulness of
these processes in the successful prosecution of his task.
It is possible, to be sure, that Nature herself may stand
sponsor for certain of these processes, and the farmer
may find a soil already fertilised and well prepared for
the sowing ; or he may be so sure of abundant rain and
natural irrigation that his anxieties vanish on that score,
or his crop may be so hardy and prolific that his harvest
is assured. If any, or all of these suppositions prove true
he may find himself able, more or less, to differentiate,
and to assign a relative importance to the various
stages or processes of his task. Under these circum-
stances it might be possible for a certain farmer to pass
judgment upon the superiority of one or other of these
processes in the fields under his care. Under similar
circumstances a missionary might be able to testify as
to the relative efficiency in his special field of certain
of the methods which are commonly used in the
prosecution of his task. We might find another analogy
in an enquiry as to the relative efficiency of different
branches of service in a great army. Would the choice
fall upon infantry, cavalry, artillery, the engineering
corps, the quartermaster's department, or upon some
other arm of the service ? The answer might vary
many times in a single campaign in which not one of these
departments could be spared, and in which they would
all be mutually helpful.
With these preliminary remarks, and with a view to
giving practical value to the study, we purpose to glance
300 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
at separate fields, and give an outline survey, necessarily
very brief, of the methods which have been found rela-
tively of value in each field from the pDint of view of
evangelisation. In conclusion, and with a desire to add
further to the usefulness of this investigation, we shall
make the attempt to appraise the value of these
methods as applied to missions in general without
reference to special fields.
I. MISSIONARY METHODS IN DIFFERENT FIELDS
In Japan, the evangelistic campaigns, well supple-
mented by personal work, seem to have a special value..
They are effective in bringing the will to a decision in the
case of those who are under conviction, as the result of
previous influences. Street preaching is not specially
favoured in Japan, but preaching services in shops, or
appointed places, are more likely to yield results. The
circulation of the Scriptures and of Christian literature
is ranked high as having a distinct value as a method of
reaching the Japanese. There is a special need, moreover,
for commentaries and expository helps in Bible study.
The Japanese are a nation of readers, and attractive
.Christian literature, edifying and wisely apologetic, is
sure of a welcome. Yet there seems to be at present a
serious lack of suitable literature. Christian in tone and
modern in content, for Japanese readers, and a special
effort is to be put forth as a result of the Fiftieth Anni-
versary of Mission Work in Japan, to supply a fresh,
informing, and inspiring literary output for general
distribution.
Education as a missionary agency had its larger and
more effective opportunity in the early days, before the
present elaborate system of Government education was
developed ; yet, because of the indifferent attitude of
the national system to direct Christian culture, the Chris-
tian school (especially the boarding school) has at the
present time a placD of exceptional usefulness. The
training of Japanese for evangelistic or ministerial service
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 301
is especially emphasised, as of the utmost importance to
the progress of the Christian religion in Japan. The call
for thoroughly competent Japanese ^.evangelists and
pastors is named by several missionaries as one of the
most urgent needs of the Empire. It is also generally
agreed that Christian institutions of learning higher tham
any which now exist, cro\\med by a first-rate university,
are indispensable both for the higher training of Christian
ministers and for sending forth laymen thoroughly
grounded in the faith and able to lead the evangelistic
and social enterprises of Christianity.
The work of the Young Men's Christian Association
in Japan is commended as an effective help to the mis-
sionary propaganda in that country. Special work for
women is of high value and timeliness, but should be
skilfully and tactfully conducted. It is especially effective
in a social atmosphere, and in the form of Bible classes in
homes. There is a great hungering on the part of the
women of Japan for something better in culture and life
than has been granted them in the past. In fact, Bible
classes for both men and women, especially if they are
accompanied by an opportunity for learning English, are
attractive to the Japanese, and afford exceptional oppor-
tunities for getting into personal touch with students
and officials, and expounding to them the essentials
of the Christian system. The value of Biblical instruc-
tion as a guide to higher morality, and a basis of
Christian ethics, is becoming more and more widely
recognised.
There seems to be little insistence among missionaries
in Japan upon the need of medical or industrial effort.
Medical missions, except as a benevolent ministry to
the poor, appear to -occupy a subordinate and waning
position, on account^ of the high standing of medical
science in the country, and the extensive provision of
excellent Government hospital facilities.
Korea is a mission field of such rapid i^ 'development
and remarkable fruitfulness that particular interest
302 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
attaches to the enquiry as to the methods which have
been in use there. It is a field in which the services of
Korean evangehsts have been largely used, and greatly
blessed, and it may be said that the development and
use of a voluntary and comparatively inexpensive native
agency has been one of the characteristic features of
mission work in that country.
An individual believer in Korea has seemed to imply
a missionary agent whose business it is to win others
to the same faith. This trend of missionary progress
has given special emphasis to the informal training of
Korean workers, and the development of native efficiency.
Immense Bible classes, or conferences for the study of
Scripture truth, and the enforcement of Christian living,
have been conducted with great success. . Personal re-
sponsibility— frankly recognised and gladly assumed — for
the souls of others seems to have awakened large and
hopeful plans for extensive ingatherings. One changed
life seems as if by a kind of spiritual magic to have pro-
duced a group of changed lives, and even to have moved
entire villages with a new religious purpose. It has become
thus an important service of the missionary to direct these
living forces, to build them up, to increase the:r efficiency
and enlarge their influence.
As time has passed, the era of evangelism has developed
into that of the missionary Church, and the established
community of Christian beUevers. A cogent call for
education has followed. The demand for Christian
literature has arisen. The Bible classes, the Sunday
Schools, and special efforts among women have called
for attention, and large opportunity has come for pas-
toral ministry, and the stated preaching of the Gospel,
and communal worship in the Church. Personal work
by missionary and by native Christian has been to the
fore. Individual Christians have hoped and laboured
for other individuals. Personal evangelistic work has
thus been a watchword of mighty power in Korea. This
method, however, can never be pursued with sustained
success, unless larger and more effective provision than
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 303
is at present apparent is made for the thorough education
of native pastors and leaders.
Medical work as a method has not been very prominent,
or extensively used, although efforts in that line, wher-
ever adopted, have been of superior excellence, and
have been generously supported. Nor have industrial
methods been much in use ; and educational plans have
been but slowly developed, until quite recently, when
special efforts in that direction have been made. The
circulation of the Scriptures, and of Christian hterature
as far as it has been made available, has been a marked
feature of mission policy, and there is still need for great
expansion in this line of effort.
We may sum up the historic missionary programme
of Korea in the word " evangehsm," as including the
missionary and native presentation of the Gospel directly
and personally through every channel of contact and
influence.
In China there is a loud and insistent call for all the
methods in ordinary use in mission fields, with the ex-
cation of industrial training, which is not regarded as
needed to any appreciable extent. The large areas within
the Empire which are yet without a mission station will
for long necessitate pioneer and itinerant evangelistic
work. Preaching the Gospel in stated places of worship
and in " street chapels " is highly esteemed as an indis-
pensable method. The usefulness of the Chinese evangelist
is accentuated by the testimony of many missionaries, and
when he is fitted for the service, his ministry is found to
be especially effective and fruitful. This call for native
leaders and preachers and for a devoted working ministry
is pronounced pressing, and vital for the development of
the Christian religion in China. It is manifest that this
verdict imparts a pecuhar urgency to the caU for the
training and equipment of native workers for the mighty
task before the Church of Christ in China.
A strong appeal is made for the distribution of the
Bible and of Christian literature, a plea which places
/^
304 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
this method, in the judgment of many, high in the hst
of possible methods. High honour is given to the service
of the Bible ocieties, and to those organisations devoted
to the preparation and distribution of religious and
other literature. In connection with Vhis plea, the
necessity for literature, explanatory and expository of
the Bible is much insisted upon, and the amount of
Christian hterature in circulation is pronounced quite
insufficient for the present needs of China, while the
importance of increasing the number of missionaries
who devote themselves to this valuable department
of service is much accentuated. It is not denied that
much Hterary work has already been done in China,
but inasmuch as the Chinese are a hterary people, and
hold hterature in special esteem, and are in the mood
of alert enquiry, covering a wide range of knowledge,
the call for an immense increase in the production of
literature dealing with \atal themes, rehgious and secular,
suited to the needs of a great people who are advancing
to higher levels of thought and more enlightened ways
of hving, seems imperative. There is not, for example,
any special Chinese literature for the large Mohammedan
population.
There is, moreover, a relatively high efficiency to be
. ^ assigned to education according to Western standards,
and for teaching along the hues of up-to-date knowledge,
throughout China. This represents an almost universal
7 desire on the part of the Chinese. The " New Learning "
has become a regnant ralljdng cry, and it is of the utmost
importance for the rehgious welfare of China, and the
stability of the Christian Church, that this education
should be as far as possible under missionary auspices,
or, at least, within the range of Christian influence.
This demand for education, so unusual and insistent,
represents an intellectual renaissance which is revolu-
tionary in its significance, and stands for a change in
mental outlook and inspiring ideals which will ensure
the making of a new China. Such a desire for schools
and colleges is almost unprecedented in the history of
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 305
any nation, especially one just emerging from the seclu-
sion of a conservatism which has been for centuries
phenomenal in its rigidity. Such an educational oppor-
tunity as China offers at the present moment is considered
to be unsurpassed in the history of missions.
The favourable openings presented through medical
missionary effort have also weighty advocacy from
men of long and eminent service in China. The call
for women doctors is especially emphasised, as their
services are most acceptable, and, as a rule, essential to
the treatment which suffering womanhood often needs.
Facilities for the medical education of the Chinese,
both men and women, are greatly needed, and produce
results of large usefulness as a missionary agency.
The value placed upon woman's work for woman in
China is frequently referred to with 'much urgency in
the replies of missionaries to the question we have under
consideration. The service rendered in visiting, in
Bible classes, in schools, and in medical treatment, is
commended without reserve.
It should be reiterated that the greatest need of
China from the point of view of its evangelisation is that
of a great increase in the direct evangelistic agency.
This is strongly set forth in the report of the Evangelistic
Work Committee, appointed at the China Centenary
Missionary Conference, as follows : " No one can
question the importance of the work done by those
engaged in the medical, educational, literary, and philan-
thropic branches of our great missionary enterprise :
but we would impress upon thejiome churches the fact
that the time has come when direct evangelism must be ■
given the first place. Less than one-half of the whole
missionary staff m China' is now engaged in this direct
evangelistic work, and even this proportion, in itself
far too small, is due mainly to the importance which
the China Inland Mission places upon evangelistic as
compared with institutional work. Out of 678 members,
this Mission has 560 in direct evangelistic work ; while
Recording to the m.ost rleiable. statistics to which we have
COM. I. — 20
3G6 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
had access, of the 1758 missionaries of all other societies,
less than 600 are engaged in this work. Owing to different
methods of reckoning in the various missions, the wives
of missionaries (1035) are not included in any of the above
figures, though nearly all of the wives do more or less
missionary work. To add the number of wives would
not alter the ratio."
In India evangelistic preaching seems to be commended
by the missionaries more warmly and universally than
any other single agency. This preaching may either be
identified with itinerating tours, or may be the important
feature in evangelistic campaigns among the villages, or
wherever churches or stated places of worship are ready
for use. There seems to be much difference of opinion as
to the value of street preaching, or services in the open
bazaars, and this evangelistic method once so popular is
now regarded by many as not sufficiently fruitful in
results, and as having fallen into disrepute. In any case,
it is thought to be of doubtful value, unless followed up
by personal interviews and a sympathetic heart touch,
with further individual presentation of Gospel truth. It
is frequently insisted upon, moreover, that it is a grave
mistake to commit this difficult service to other than
picked men, both among missionaries and native workers
— men poss^sing special gifts and an adequate equipment
for this responsible function. With this qualifying
statement as to the expediency of a continuance of street
preaching, it is evident that there is virtual agreement
that the first need of India is for the preaching of the
Gospel message, and the clear, patient presentation of
the historic facts and the essential truths of Christianity,
in order that the vast multitude of the dwellers in the
villages may have an opportunity to hear the Gospel,
since they are necessarily quite beyond the range of the
institutional work of missions.
The " itinerant " is pronounced to be " the need of
the time, working on plans carefully prepared, and with
methods that will ensure thorough work." This would
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 307
involve a body of workers sufficiently large and mobile,
and adequately equipped for service, with plans for
strategic centralisation wherever there are indications of
mass movements toward Christianity. With a sufficient
number of such workers, it is the judgment of competent
observers that in several sections of India many millions
might be gathered into the Church within the next decade.
Second only to the provision for a widespread and
effective evangelism by direct preaching is the call for
education, especially in the vernacular, as a means of
facilitating evangelistic effort. Through Bible teaching
education is in fact a direct means of evangelistic effort.
Every grade of educational effort seems to b^ in demand,
from the primary village school to the college, and as an
appendage the supplemental service of the hostels is
coming to be highly appreciated.
Repeated emphasis in the papers submitted is given to
the necessity and value of special work for women by
those of her own sex, both foreign and native. Men can
do little in this department of service ; women only can
have access to women, and the zenanas are open as
never before.
The plea for medical work in India is marked by
much urgency. The provision which the Government
makes in large centres is regarded as modifying somewhat
the need in cities and towns, but there are large outlying
regions where medical missions can push into fresh
districts, and avoid competition with the elaborate
facilities under Government auspices, and at the same
time reach in the rural districts a maximum of souls by
a minimum of outlay in money and service. The oppor-
tunity presented in the villages, according to the opinions
of experienced missionaries, is, however, hardly as yet
appreciated and used as it should be. Magnificent work
is, nevertheless, being done in mission hospitals by an
exceptionally able class of practitioners, and much is
being accomplished in breaking down the barriers of
intolerance, ignorant antagonism, and serious misunder-
standings of our faith.
f/
-'i
SOS CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The circulation of Christian literature, including the
Scriptures, and the dissemination of religious matter in
the various vernaculars of India, and also to a consider-
able extent in English for the 883,000 educated Indians
who are familiar with it, finds earnest advocacy on the
part of missionaries of large experience and ripe judgment.
The Bible is itself a power, and its distribution is one
of the open secrets of success in India. Missionaries of
high standing declare that in the matter of conversions,
the circulation of the Bible, and of Christian books and
tracts, is an agenc^^ of hidden power and unknown value,
revealing at times an efficiency and fruitfulness which is
as surprising as it is welcome.
Strong paragraphs are scattered through the responses
sent from India advocating the necessity of the develop-
ment and education of the native Church, and the
placing upon it of a large responsibility concerning the
progress of Christianity in India. Coupled with this is
the call for the training of native Christians for evangelistic
service and pastoral work. It seems evident that the
Indian Church must ultimately be under the guidance
and control of Indian Christians, and this implies a
native leadership of ability, zeal, and spirituality.
Industrial training is regarded as having both an
economic and philanthropic value, and as affording an
opportunity foPreligious influence and practical helpful-
ness, in circumstances where the pressure of isolation for
reasons of caste, and ostracism from usual employments,
weigh heavily upon the Christian convert. Its useful-
ness, however, is largely among Christian converts, and
consists not only in the opportunity it gives for the
spiritual uplift, but in the material advantages which it
affords by creating industries which Christians can cany
on by themselves, or by improving their efficiency in the
ordinary occupations of life, and this especially for the
j.i pariahs, or helpless outcastes. The introduction of the lace
Industry is an example, and the improvement of methods
in the \veaving trade is another illustration. Industrial
training \h especially useful in the many orphanages under
^^■i*'^^ X«>t-'»-^-^^* '
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 309
niissionary care. Agricultural colonies. are of large value,
if properly managed. While this is true, some doubts
here and there appear in the papers handed in as to the
wisdom of pushing industrial work — especially when
costly machinery is required — except under the pressure
of necessity, and where it can save a Christian community
from disintegration and despair. As a method of evan-
gelistic pioneering among non-Christians, its usefulness
is questioned. It would be likely to furnish a grave
example of unsuitability of method and waste of funds.
In Africa it is unusually difficult to determine the
relative value of mission methods. There is one generalisa-
tion, however, which is universally applicable, and that is
that the great need of Africa in all its fields is for enlighten-
ment. How that enlightenment may be most effectively
imparted becomes the crucial question for the missionary.
A careful study of the replies which have come to hand
seems to indicate that the teaching function is the first
missionary expedient for the greater part of the continent.
The true evangelist seems to be the teacher, in some
phase or department, of an instructive discipline. The
missionary who preaches should preach with the aim of
the teacher. The translator should have that object pro-
minently before him. Tlie itinerant evangelist should be
above all things a teacher of the simplest essential truths
about God, and His relations to man. A pedagogical
campaign along all the lines of missionary work seems to
meet the dominant demand of Africa as no other method
can at the present stage of development. There are still,
however, large sections of the continent where the first
requirement of missions seems to be the reduction of
the language to a written form, and the translation
of the Scriptures into the vernacular, but this once
accomplished opens the way for the campaign of the
teacher.
The call for the preaching of the Gospel is by no means
overlooked in the mass of missionary testimony which
has been consulted, and there are open doors in villages
and kraals, and in stated places of worship, but almost
310 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
every missionary supplements his advocacy of preaching
by emphasising the desirability of making the preaching
service chiefly a teaching function characterised by the
utmost simplicity and directness, and also by references
to Bible study as especially useful. Street preaching
in the more literal sense seems to have little scope in
Africa, especially in Moslem communities, and in some
sections of the continent under foreign political control
it is forbidden by the Government. It is fair to say,
however, that in some prominent African fields touring
visits on the part of the missionary, with a view to holding
preaching services, or conducting evangelistic campaigns,
is spoken of with high commendation, as, for example,
in Uganda.
Industrial training is advocated not only because of
its utility as an instrument of education, but because of
its philanthropic usefulness, and as giving dignity to
labour, and affording a training in the elementary trades
which provide means of support to the native-
Medical work is extremel}^ useful in many parts of the
continent. It is an offset to the evils of witchcraft, and
directs sufferers to the true sources of healing. It is
specially valuable in newly opened districts, where tlie
itinerant physician is always a welcome visitor.
The testimony from Africa may, therefore, be summed
up as in favour of the presentation of Gospel truth,
along the lines of an instructive discipline, although
not exclusively in schools, but rather by a wise adaptation
of the teaching method to all missionary approaches
to natives. The command of our Saviour, " Go ye,
therefore, and teach all nations," seems to have a special
adaptation to the great African Continent.
The problem of " relative effectiveness " is the same
stumbling-block to missionaries in Moslem lands, like
Turkey and Persia, as elsewhere. If, however, a verdict
must be recorded in a judicial spirit, it may safely be
given — a Mohammedan environment being presupposed
• — in favour of education and Scripture distribution as
missionary instruments. It is education, conscientiously
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 311
and loyally conducted with the evangelistic aim, which
is thus advocated by the missionary.
Medical missions in Moslem lands are invaluable as a
pioneer agency for breaking down the barriers of pre-
judice, and dissipating misapprehensions concerning the
Christian faith. Nothing can be more effective in dis-
arming suspicion and in modifying the attitude of both
Government and people toward missionary work. The
clinical services afford an unparalleled opportunity for
reaching a mixed and continually changing audience,
while in the hospital wards there is a unique opportunitj^
for reaching Mohammedan patients, and, in the form of
an itinerating clinic, medical missions open the door
wide for entrance into Moslem communities, especially
in times of epidemic, disaster, and sometimes of massacre.
Much may be said concerning the value of Christian
literature adapted to the needs of Moslem readers, and
especially the circulation of the Scriptures. A peculiar
value attaches to this department of service at the present
time in the Turkish Empire, because of the exceptional
liberty granted under the new Constitution to the distri-
bution of religious literature. Woman's work for woman
is held in high esteem, and is greatly needed. Women
physicians and nurses have a mission of mercy among
women and children. Industrial work has been largely
a charitable and philanthropic feature of missionary
activity, and has in some instances opened the way for
the entrance of the Gospel.
II. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS REGARDING MISSIONARY
METHODS
The results of this study have been suggestive as to
some general conclusions in regard to the efficiency of
methods, which may be considered as indicated not only
in special fields, l)ut in the broad realm of missions as
a world enterprise. In elucidating this broader aspect
of the subject, following still the suggestions of the
material which has been sent from various mission
312 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
centres of the world, we find the following analysis to
be justified : —
I. There are certain methods which are indispensable,
and have been standardised as essential to effectiveness,
and have everywhere been identified with the missionary
successes of Christian history.
(i) The preaching or teaching of the revealed Gospel,
including and based upon the historic facts of the in-
carnation and atoning work of our Risen Lord, cannot
be regarded as otherwise than indispensable. The
chief aim must ever be to persuade human hearts
ever^-where that Jesus Christ is their Saviour, standing
ready in an attitude of love, compassion, and power,
to realise Lo them, upon condition of repentance and faith,
all that the Gospel promises to do for a soul that receives
it. In the train of this great essential follow certain
implied requirements, and a variety of expedients for
accomplishing the aim in view. The language must be
mastered ; preaching places must be secured, either
itinerant or temporary, or more regular and permanent ;
opportunities of personal contact and appeal must be
sought ; catechumens must be instructed ; the con-
solations and hopes of the Gospel must be brought to
bear upon the poor, the oppressed, the afflicted, the
desolate, the bereft and despairing. In a word, the
ministry of spiritual truth, in its fulness and abounding
adaptation, must be given to human souls ; not, of course,
by foreign missionaries alone, but also by trained native
evangelists.
(2) Again, among indispensable methods is the estab-
lishment and edification of the native Church. Con-
verts must be gathered into a visible body, with due
provision for oversight, and with orderly administration
of the sacraments, including also a sufficient power of
disciphne, and with special facilities for the instruction
of the young of the flock. It seems essential, also, that
sooner or later (the sooner the better) the goal of this
native Church should be self-support, self-government,
self-propagation, and orderly ecclesiastical relations, at
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 313
once indigenous and helpful to growth and capacity for
service. This great essential of method involves of
necessity the education and training of native pastors,
who can serve the native Church, and build it up in
spirituality and evangelistic fervour.
(3) A method which cannot be relegated to any
secondary position is the translation and circulation of
the Bible in the vernacular. It is not necessary to dwell
upon this. God's message answers to an indisputable
need of every human heart. It would be whoUy futile to
hope for permanent missionary success without it. But
of course this success cannot be achieved without the
faithful use of the Bible, or at least some portion of it,
as a basis of study and instruction in Bible classes or
conferences, and in the special teaching of catechumens.
2. There are other methods, which although of high
and undoubted value, vary in their adaptation and use-
fulness in different fields. They are the specialties of
the mission propaganda. In some fields, under certain
conditions, they may seem worthy to be ranked almost
in the same class as those named as indispensable, but
in other fields, under other circumstances, they may
have less claim to importance. Due regard should
always be given to their usefulness as evangelising
agencies.
The most prominent among them is education, in all its
grades, which may be made, in some instances, invaluable
as a Christian force, and may co-operate with and supple-
ment the more directly evangelistic agencies. There is
hardly a mission field in the world where missionaries
would deliberately and permanently neglect it, although
the call for it may vary in its emphasis. China, India,
Africa, and Moslem lands in general, illustrate an insistent
call of invaluable opportunity.
Medical missions are practically on the same level as
a method of high value. They are a noble feature of
modern missions They break down barriers ; they
attract reluctant and suspicious populations ; they open
whole regions ; they capture entire villages and tribes ;
314 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
they give a practical demonstration of the spirit of
Christianity.^
Literature in broad and generous measure is called for
in many fields, as an enlightening, educational, and
edifying provision for minds stirred with new cravings
for knowledge. It should minister also to the higher
literate classes, who need intellectual guidance and
inspiration. The volume of output may vary, but the
quality should be excellent, and the adaptation wisely
gauged. Its moral power, its mental stimulus, its
illuminating suggestiveness, its broadening and uplifting
ministry, may be fruitful in results of lasting value.
Special efforts in behalf of woman are called for where
there are serious barriers preventing access, except
through the agencies of female missionaries. In many
Eastern lands the woman missionary alone can minister
spiritually to those of her own sex. Even in lands where
there is no difficulty of access to women, there is need of
a Christian training of women in order to develop a stable
Christian community.
Industrial training becomes in many fields of special
value to converts, not only because it is helpful in pro-
viding a means of support, but because of the discipline
it imparts to character and the desirable change of
direction it often gives to life.
3. There are still other methods which recent changes
and developments in mission fields call for as especially
timely and efficient, under present conditions.
Under this heading attention should be called to the
work of the Young Men's and the Young Women's
Christian Associations in certain mission fields, chiefly,
but not altogether, among the student class. Of special
value also are the hostels recently established in con-
siderable numbers for the moral and physical benefit of
students. There are methods, also, especially intended
to reach the higher, or official, classes, as well as efforts
suited to stimulate and foster mass movements. Where
the system of caste prevails, there are opportunities
1 See Appendix to this chapter.
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 315
for methods which have a tendency, without unwise
aggressiveness or undue precipitancy, to hasten the
disintegration, and eventually to effect the moral and
social discrediting of caste exactions. It is hardly necessary
to say in this connection that where caste is concerned,
and where the interests of the official classes are involved,
great care and much firmness may be required, lest a too
lenient, or even dangerous, spirit of compromise may
govern the attitude and policy of missions. Caste should
never be allowed, for reasons of expediency, to lower
the standards of Christian brotherhood, or foster the
notion that God is influenced by the laws of caste in His
attitude of love and graciousness toward all men. No
Chinese Mandarin, for example, should be permitted to
imagine that either the Gospel or its ethics can be adjusted
to any anti-Christian custom or notion he may wish to
retain. No Indian notables, Hindu or Moslem, nor any
African chieftain, should cherish the expectation that they
can introduce polygamy into the Church, and graft it upon
the Christian system of ethics. In a word, the Biblical
system of essential truth and indisputable morality must
stand as a controlling force in every mission method, in
all fields, and among all races.
The preparation of special literature for certain classes
of readers, or to meet diverse conditions, or to answer to
peculiar needs, or to further great social or national
movements, is a method which may vary according to time
and circumstances, in different fields. In China and Korea,
for example, at the present time there is a call for a whole
library of literature giving light and insight as to the moral
forces which have been chiefly instrumental in developing
Western civilisation, and may be regarded as characteristic
of it.
There are also certain methods which have a bearing
upon the prevalent social evils of the non-Christian world,
and which aim at their modification, or, eventually,
their abolition. Among such evils may be mentioned
intemperance, immorality, gambling, the opium habit,
foot-binding, child marriage, infanticide, cannibalism,
316 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
idolatry, vvitchcralt, the slave trade, and others concerning
more particularly the interests of women and children.
The attitude of the missionary to the established customs
and the traditional entanglements of non-Christian society
should not be to any unwise degree that of direct attack,
but rather that of indirect, but unmistakable protest,
based upon influence, example, the advocacy of principles,
the uplifting of standards, the firm alliance with the
recognised essentials of a Christian civilisation, the steady
pressure for justice, liberty, enlightenment, moral order,
and especially the betterment of the lot of woman in
Eastern lands, and among savage tribes.
Presupposing always the religious and moral essentials,
the adoption of particular methods should be determined
by the consideration of their practical utility. There
must necessarily be taken into account the efficacy of
any proposed agency to promote the supreme purpose
of missions, which is to give effectiveness to the Gospel
message, and make it, by the aid of the Spirit, an
instrument for enlightening the mind, and, at the same
time, a moral incentive and guide to life. All methods,
it need hardly be said, should be sanctified and vitalised
by prayer. It is sufficiently apparent, also, to every
candid student of this theme that no method should be
counted so dear, or be so inflexibly wedded to time and
place, amid changing conditions, that prompt readjust-
ment, when called for, cannot be secured. Missionary
leaders both at home and abroad should be awake to this.
Instruments and agencies are the servants of opportunity,
and should ever be responsive to the call for strategic
movement and to conform to the demands of an enter-
prise which is instinct with living forces.
APPENDIX
On 2oth and 21st June a Sectional Conference on Medical
Missions was held, at which the following document was adopted
for communication to Commission I. The Commission received
the document at its linal meeting after the close of the Conference,
and agreed that, without any pronouncement being made upon
the findings, they should be recorded at the close of this chapter.
VARIOUS MISSIONARY METHODS 317
Findings of Sectional Conference on Medical
Missions
This Sectional Meeting of Medical Delegates, Medical Mis-
sionaries, and other Medical Practitioners interested in the Medical
Aspects of Missionary Work desire to represent to the Commission
on " carrying the Gospel to all the world " their unanimous
opinion—
(i) That Medical Missions should be recognised as an integral
and essential part of the Missionary Work of the Christian Church —
(a) Because we are led by the example and command of
Christ to make use' of the ministry of healing as a
means of revealing God to man ; and
(b) Because the efficacy and necessity of such work as
an evangelistic agency have been proved in manj'
lands again and again," and such work has been sealed
by the blessing of God.
(2) That Medical Missions should be continued and extended,
and that they should be under the charge of fully qualified Medical
Missionaries, with properly staffed and equipped Hospitals, and,
where possible. European or American Missionary Nurses to
supervise the Native Staff of Nurses.
(3) That all the Societies should send fully qualified Medical
Missionaries to every district where Missionaries are located when
other qualified medical assistance is not available.
(4) That Branch Dispensaries are a valuable extension of
Hospital work, and are especially so in districts where Christians
are scattered amongst the villages. Only trained and experienced
assistants should be placed in charge of branches. The con-
nection with the Central Hospital should be close and the super-
vision thorough.
(5) That in view of the desirability of providing for furlough
and vacation, without closing hospitals which have once been
established, and in view also of the great responsibility entailed
by serious operations, the necessity of having tv/o fully qualified
doctors on the regular staff of each Medical Mission Station
should be urged upon the Home Committees and Boards, especially
in the case of Women's Missions.
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD
AS AN EVANGELISTIC AGENCY
To Commission II. has been allotted the discussion
of the proper development of the Church in the mission
field. A most important part of this development is
the undertaking of the evangelisation of the nation or
people of whom it forms the first - fruits unto Christ.
This doubtless will be fully dealt with from the stand-
point of Commission II. But without trenching upon
the function of that Commission, it is necessary to con-
sider the part which the newly-formed Church in each
mission field has to fill, in order that the Gospel may be
carried to all the world. For this is not a task which
can ever be accomplished solely by foreign forces. It
has become a commonplace that if Africa, India, or
China is to be evangelised, it must be done by Africans,
Indians, or Chinese. The vastness of the population
in a land like China, and the unhealthy climate in many
parts of Africa, make this fact obvious. The native
Church is the indispensable complementary ally of the
foreign force. Of necessity, the introduction of the
Gospel amongst a non-Christian people must be the work
of those of another nation rejoicing in the knowledge of
Christ ; but the completion of the work within the
national area can only be effected by the native Church.
The object accordingly of the foreign missionary in the
initial evangelisation devolving upon him is to create
a native Church which may from the first enter into
supplement, and extend the evangelistic work begun by
the foreign mission, and shall ultimately become strong
enough, not merely numerically, but even more in under-
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 319
standing and in life, to undertake for itself and carry
to completion the evangelisation of the nation. From
the time that a native Church is founded, there exists in
the mission field a new evangelistic force, and this force
is not only to be permanent, but ought also to become
the most potent. It is impossible, therefore, to discuss
how the Gospel may be carried into all the world without
considering the part which the native Church is to fill
in this great endeavour,
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF EVANGELISATION THROUGH
THE NATIVE CHURCH
In order accurately to appreciate the importance of
the place belonging to the native Church in this work,
it is necessary to compare the relative advantages of
foreign and native agency in the proclamation of the
Gospel.
I. The Advantages and Drawbacks of the Foreign
Missionary. — Among the primitive races, the white
man, when he has been able to settle peacefully in their
midst, wields commonly an enormous influence. He
comes to them as the representative of the higher know-
ledge, the superior forces, the marvellous apparatus
of the outer world which is breaking in upon their lower
level ; he is associated in their minds with the deference
due to the foreign power whose authority overshadows
them ; the qualities developed in him by education and
culture, and still more the Christian principle which
regulates his life and work amongst them, win their
confidence, or at least compel their regard. These are
advantages not to be under-estimated. They help to
procure audience for his message, respect for his counsel,
and compliance with his requests. Amongst cultured
peoples, on the other hand, entrenched behind their
own forms of civilisation and literature, it is of no advan-
tage for the missionary to be a foreigner. Frequently
he finds the initial stage of his work to be specially trying,
as well as difficult, on that very account. It may be
320 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
that, as the personal quality of the missionary emerges,
as the commanding influence of education, knowledge,
skill, and character makes itself felt, the m.easure of
recognition and respect gradually accorded to him is
enhanced by the very fact of his being a foreigner. It
would be wrong to overlook the helpfulness of such
prestige and influence. It would be equally wrong to
overlook the advantages to the general work arising
from the fact that the foreign missionary brings with
him into the service of the Gospel on its new enterprise,
not only an acquaintance with the history and life and
work of the Church in the past, but also a certain com-
mand of the resources of civilisation, as well as gifts of
leadership and organisation, which are of special value
in the case of primitive races. These advantages are not
free, indeed, from peril to the object in view. They
constitute, in many cases, a temptation to natives to seek
association with the foreigner or dependence on him
from other motives than the sincere acceptance of the
Gospel which he preaches. Attachment to the religious
community presided over by the foreigner tends to
obscure the true meaning of membership in the Church
of Christ. Still the fact remains that the foreign mis-
sionar}^ agency is not only absolutely necessary in the
first instance, but is also, on to an advanced stage in the
accomplishment of the task, of such immense value in
various directions as to be almost indispensable.
There is, however, one matter relating to the position
of the foreign missionary which requires consideration,
and may be dealt with here. A considerable amount
of testimony has been received from the mission field
with regard to what is \ ''^wed by some as a very serious
disability on the part of the foreign missionary, viz. his
singularity in dress, in style of dwelling, and in habits of
life. It is not only that in such things as these he holds
himself apart from the natives, but also that through
these there is a presentation to the natives of wealth and
luxury and social superiority which makes impossible to
them a clear vision of the sympathy and love forming
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 321
the very spirit of Christianity. In other words, the
social aloofness and superiority of the missionary is
inimical to the realisation of Christian brotherhood
between him and his fellow- Christians in the native
Church. It is well known that in certain missions a policy
has been largely followed of obhterating as far as possible
all distinctions between the foreigner and the native.
In proof of love, and on the principle of being " all things
to all men," foreigners have, as far as possible through
mere externals, transformed themselves into natives in
order the better to win the natives to Christ. But some,
even of the most gifted men, eminently fitted personally
to achieve success through the adoption of such methods,
have confessed in the end to their practical failure. In
any such method there must always be an element of
artificiality which makes it inferior in convincing power
to a method which frankly recognises and accommodates
itself to necessary differences. The end in view can be
reached without abandonment of the conditions necessary
for the well-being and comfort of foreigners in the mission
field, provided only that consideration and love for the
natives have also their due influence in the adjustment
of these conditions. On this point there is a remarkable
consensus of testimony from the various fields. A few,
indeed, express the opinion that the difference in social
status and comfort is a hindrance to the success of the
missionary, while others declare it to be an aid in this
direction. From a small number comes the self-evidencing
criticism that where there is obvious cultivation of
luxury, or obtrusion of European and American, in pre-
ference to native, customs, in matters which make access
to the missionary and intercourse with him difficult on
the part of the native (e.g. the internal arrangement of a
reception room in disregard of Chinese etiquette), there
is a direct hindrance to the achievement of the missionary
purpose. But there is no suggestion that such cases are
numerous. On the other hand, there is a very wide
expression of opinion that the natives generally regard a
certain difference and superiority of social condition and
COM, I. — 21
322 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
life as entirely fitting in the case of missionaries, as well
as of other Europeans, it being not only necessary for
their health, but also for their efficiency in work in a
climate to which they are strangers. Only, the supreme
rule for the missionary in determining his social arrange-
ments must not be conformity to the standards and
fashions of other Europeans, but regard for the ends he
is to attain among the natives. Emphasis is laid by the
majority of correspondents on the necessity for as great
plainness and simplicity of living as possible, for such
accommodation of European arrangements to native
ideas as does not impair their real benefit, for the adoption
of as many native fashions as are congruous to Europeans
and Americans in the circumstances, and for the most
scrupulous regard to local etiquette. It is desirable also
that the missionary should reside in sufficient proximity
to his native constituency to be easily accessible. Where
these points are attended to, and above all, where real
love to the natives rules all the arrangements of the
missionary's establishment and the habits of his life
amongst them, the social differences which are unavoidable
present no hindrance to the influence of the Gospel. In
the ordering of his own domestic establishment and
social life, as in other departments of his duty, love
secures the fulfilling of the law of Christ.
2. Advantages and Drawbacks of the Native Church. —
On the other hand, the advantages attaching to the
native Church as an evangelistic agency are many and
obvious. Its work is free from the limitations and
interruptions commonly imposed upon that of foreign
missionaries by alien climate, and there is no division
between the Church and the people to whom it appeals
in respect of status, modes of life, and social customs,
such as that which can seldom be obliterated in the case
of the foreign missionary. It is, however, when we come
to what constitutes the very essence of the task of evan-
gelisation, VIZ. the due presentation to the people of the
tfuth and power of the Gospel, that the superiority of the
native Church as an evangelistic agency becomes apparent.
THE CHURCH IK THE MISSION FIELD 323
In the first place, the native speaks the language of
the non-Christian people. Not all missionaries have the
inclination or the genius really to master it. Many are
satisfied with such a working knowledge of it as may
enable them to express their thought in correct terms.
Some are content with a vocabulary sufficient for
ordinary conversational purposes. It is true that some
missionaries have done great things with a very im-
perfect knowledge of the language, and have even in a
few cases carried on their work with a surprising measure
of success through interpreters ; but the man with a com-
})Iete vocabulary, a true accent, and a perfect idiom,
whose speech has in it no element of strangeness, is
obviously the more effective instrument for evangelistic
purposes.
In the second place, the native understands the mind
of the non-Christian people. He knows the native
ways of thinking, the values they attach to different
things, the modes of argument that influence them, the
illustrations that appeal to them, the beliefs, traditions,
customs, etiquette that instinctively shape the movement
of thought or the play of feeling — in short, the whole
mental world in which the native dwells, and from which
he looks out on new claimants for belief and obedience.
Some missionaries never discover the hindrance created
by their ignorance of the native mind, its world and its
working ; and with others it is the toil of a hfetime to
get into the heart of it. But the native is at home in it
from the first, and the advantage which this gives him in
enforcing the truth and claims of the Gospel is simply
inestimable. The Principal of a large college on the
mission field bears testimony that even in addressing the
lads in English, one of the native masters, who is a man
of third - rate education and no outstanding ability,
seems to know how to reach their minds with personal
reference and illustration, and is in this way for the
practical purpose of extending the Kingdom of God a
bietter instrument than the more brilliant missionaries
above him.
324 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
In the third place, the native Church attests to the
non-Christian people what the Gospel will do for them
individually and socially. It exhibits the Gospel as
having a proper sphere of power and realisation in their
own land and among their own people. May we
illustrate this idea ? Primitive Malayans do not object
in the least to the whites having other gods than their
own, and do not deny that those gods are more
powerful, wise, and gracious than theirs. But this
acknowledgment is a poor incentive to the acceptance
of the foreigner's god. For they say : " We are under
the influence of our ancestors, and we must be careful
not to offend them, because they are able to avenge
themselves and to enforce their supremacy. If we should
forsake them, they would destroy us. The missionary
cannot understand this situation, because he has of
course no connection with our ancestors and gods."
The missionary is unable to meet this hne of thought.
It is the native Christian who proves that he, though
born in the land, is really free from the power of demons,
that he can live a happy and secure life under the mighty
protection of the God who is God of the Malayan as well
as of the European. The tribes of Africa are organised
generally upon the basis of despotic rule, and among them
there is found a prejudice against Christianity on the
ground that it destroys the power and influence of the
chiefs, that men who become Christians are rebels
against their native superiors, and that it is impossible
to live consistent Christian lives while maintaining the
inherited connection with the native authorities. It is
again the native Christian who proves by his life, much
more intelligently than the missionary by his preaching,
that native rule is consistent with Christian confession.
In India where the whole social life is entwined with
caste rules, it seems impossible to the undecided enquirer
to live at all after breaking and losing caste. In his old
life he sees order, however imperfect ; in the new Christian
life he can only discern disorder and desolation. It is
the well-organised Christian community which showsi
THE CHURCH IN THE mSSION FIELD 325
him that not only an organised life, but even a social
life of a higher type is possible through obedience to the
Gospel. The native congregation is the object-lesson,
read and understood by the non-Christians, as to what
Christianity really means.
In the fourth place, it is a natural consequence of
the facts already stated that as the Church becomes
stronger, and the beneficent effects of the new Christian
life are exemplified in it, it attracts the non-Christian
community in contact with it. Christian education
gives the children a greater intelligence and more
bread-winning power. The homes of the Christians
become cleaner, larger, healthier. By the practice
of industry, economy, and temperance, the Christians
advance in prosperity, their manhood and their woman-
hood is elevated, strengthened, purified. The non-
Christian people see the beneficent power at work
in their midst, and begin to call for Christian teaching
and seek a place in the new and better order. In many
a mission field in the islands of the Pacific, in Africa, in
India, in China, in Korea, and in Japan, there are illus-
trations of the power of a strong Christian community
to attract and to assimilate. We are safe in regarding
this power as at least an important factor in the production
of the so-called mass movements which have become a
feature in modem missions. The leaven works more
effectively the greater the affinity and the closer the
contact between the leavening element and the lump to
be leavened.
The drawbacks attaching to the native Church in the
work of evangelisation may be summed up as those
naturally arising from infancy and novelty. Conse-
quently they are drawbacks which tend to disappear
as knowledge grows and experience gathers. There is
an enthusiasm inseparable from the wonderful first
impressions of the Gospel received into the hearts and
lives of men, and on many fields this enthusiasm forth-
with transforms converts into witnesses and soul-winners ;
but they are naturally for a time without the amount
326 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
of knowledge requisite to give perspective to the view
and balance to the judgment. In addition to the de-
fective and partial apprehensions of Divine truth, there
is at first on the part of the native Church a total absence
of acquaintance with the errors which are apt to spring
up through the endeavour of the human mind to adjust
the truth of God to its own prejudices or its own limits,
as well as a total absence of acquaintance with the laws
of Church life and membership, and v/ith the experience
and work of the Church in past days and in other lands.
Above all, there is a danger of failing to apprehend aright
the methods of the Spiiit of God, and of importing into
them ideas and practices derived from heathenism.
On the other hand, there are often manifested by the
more intelligent and more thoroughly awakened converts,
a singular freshness, spiritual acumen, and uncompromis-
ing fidelity in applying the laws of New Testament
Christianity to the conditions in their environment
and the consequent obhgations of Church membership.
What is of importance here is that the foreign mission,
while aiming at and fostering the freest operation of
the evangelistic activity of the native Church along its
natural lines of operation, should be continually on the
watch to apply such correction, suggestion, illumination,
and guidance as may enable the nascent Church to benefit
from the accumulated experience of past centuries of
Church life and work.
Before quitting this section, reference must be made
to an experience reported from some of the older fields.
It is that the second generation of native Christians, and
still more the following generation, loses that intimate
knowledge of and touch with native life possessed by the
first generation. This is due in part to their receiving
training in mission schools, and to the care which is
naturally taken to shield them from the corrosive influence
of surrounding heathenism. At the same time, they often
imbibe from their European teachers modes of expression
and even modes of thinking which render their preaching
less effective in its appeal to their fellow-countrymen.
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 327
There is here a danger to be guarded against as much as
possible. It seems to suggest the importance of en-
deavouring to find among the very first converts men of
abihty, insight and personal influence, who may be them-
selves so trained in the knowledge of the Gospel and of the
Christian life, that they shall be able, if not to conduct,
at least to assist in, the practical training of the
preachers and evangelists who are to follow them. It
must be a cardinal aim in all foreign mission work that
not only the native evangelist, but also the convert,
shall not lose his nationality. He should live among
his own people, and think of himself, while called to be
"in Christ," as still one of them, continuing in their
manner of life and national customs in so far as these
are consistent with the Christian faith and Christian
progress.
II. THE QUESTION OF A FOREIGN-PAID NATIVE AGENCY
This is a question to be considered by itself. Hitherto
the missionary has been spoken of as constituting the
foreign agency in the work, and the native Church and
native evangelists as constituting the native agency.
While these are clearly distinguishable in thought, they
are naturally in practice most closely associated. There
is, however, on many mission fields a considerable number
of native evangelists or preachers chosen, directed, and
paid by the foreign mission, which may be described as
the native corps of the foreign force. They represent
not so much the evangelistic activity of the native Church,
as a further extension of the evangelistic enterprise of
the foreign Church. What does experience teach re-
garding it ?
The discussion of this question relates of course only
to those fields where a foreign-paid native agency is
at work alongside of a more or less organised native
Church. And, first of all, we have to express our regret
that a separate and specific enquiry regarding it was not
submitted to our correspondents on the mission field.
S^8 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
There is consequently lacking an adequate expression
of opinion upon it, but in not a few communications
it is touched upon, in some emphatically, and in almost
all of these in a sense adverse to the extension of this
method of evangelisation. This does not appear to be
due to any failure to appreciate the advantages of this
method, but rather to the unhappy discovery that it
tends to postpone the time when the foreigner shall
become the decreasing force and the native Church
the increasing force in the evangelisation of the people ;
nay, more, that from the beginning it tends to put
the native Church into a wrong relation to this duty.
There are some obvious advantages in the method.
The foreign missionary, especially in the initial stages of
his work, is able greatly to augment his own usefulness
by the employment of trusted natives who can accompany
him in itinerations, assist him in his meetings, and carry
on evangelistic work under his direction and supervision.
And then, after the initial stages have been passed, he
can, by means of such an agency, multiply greatly the
evangelistic operations of his mission and their efficiency,
and procure an ingathering which could not otherwise
have been so rapidly effected.
On the other hand, there is testimony from various
fields, notably from India and from China, to the mischief
and hindrance of such a system where it had been long
in operation. Prejudice is stirred against the native
evangelists because they are known to be in the receipt
of foreign pay ; the work of the paid evangelist tends to
degenerate into professionalism and routine ; the idea
is fostered in the native congregation that evangelisation
is properly the work of a paid class ; the evangelisation
of the people is looked upon rather as the concern of the
foreigner than the responsibility of the native Church ;
and there is generated a temper which absorbs the gifts
of the foreign Church as a right, but repudiates a direct
obligation towards the unevangelised world. From
India, in particular, come protests by missionaries of
experience against the old custom of practically taking
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 329
every fit worker into missionary employment, instead of
patiently waiting the formation of an infant church
able to support its own agents. Regard must ever be
had, both to the variety of circumstances in different
mission fields, and the various requirements at different
stages of a mission, but these varieties are best dealt
with when principles affording true guidance are clearly
seen, even although there may be temporary modifica-
tions in the application of them. It appears to be de-
sirable that a foreign-paid native agency should be re-
stricted to the provision of the necessary personal
assistance for the foreign missionary (this is now the case
in Korea, where no missionary, unless in exceptional
circumstances, has more than two paid assistants) ;
that neither the ofhce nor the pay of the native assistant
should be on a level above those of the corresponding
workers supported by the native Church ; and that the
ruling policy of the foreign missionary should be, not to
extend the Church by himself paying selected members to
evangelise, but to lay the duty of evangelisation upon the
heart and conscience of the Church itself. It is a grave
objection to the payment of native agents by the foreign
mission that it created a body of native workers separate
from and independent of the Church.
It is possible to minimise this objection, as in Living-
stonia, where there is a considerable native agency
supported by foreign funds. The whole arrangements
there are such that the men so employed are not looked
upon as in any way attached to the staff of the foreign
mission, but only as forming part of the evangelistic
agency of the native Church. In Uganda, on the other
hand, the native Church supports all the paid agents
without foreign aid. Both there and in Livingstonia
there are large numbers of voluntary workers, but in
order to secure locations for suitable periods in outlying
villages, where the elementary work of evangelisation
includes the school as well as preaching, it is necessary
to provide for the support of the worker. The important
thing is that the work be dealt with throughout as the
330 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
mission work of the native Church, and that the arrange-
ments tend to emphasise and develop the evangehstic
obligations of the Church. Unless this is done, even
the subsidising of a native Church, that it may employ
its own agents, may prove a hindrance instead of a help.
A correspondent in Japan states that the Kumiai Churches
there received a subsidy from America amounting to
about three tim.es what they themselves contributed.
During the last four years of receiving subsidy the Japanese
contributions sank steadilj^ from 1130 to 644 yen. The
foreign subsidy was then given up, and from that point
the annual income never fell below 3000 yen, and nearly
every year there has been an increase over the year
before.
An entirely different question from that under review
is the employment of Christian converts from one place
to act as carriers of the Gospel to the non-Christians of
another. The large use made of South Sea Islanders
by the London Missionary Society to pioneer the advance
of the Gospel into New Guinea is an illustration in point.
In that and similar cases the agency is really a foreign
agency, inasmuch as the agents are of a different tribe
and have a different home from the people to be evan-
gelised. And the question whether this class of agents
or Europeans should be employed in entering into a new
field calls for quite a different set of considerations from
those which arise when the question to be dealt with is
whether the money of a foreign mission should be spent
in paying the converts to labour for the evangelisation
of their fellow-countrymen.
III. THE EVANGELISTIC SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH ON THE
MISSION FIELD
We come now to look more closely at the relation of
existing Churches in the various mission fields to the
evangelisation of the peoples from whom the}' have been
gathered. What of the spirit which animates these
Churches ? What of the actual devotion of their energies
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 331
to this object ? The general impression conveyed by
the replies from the field is certainly an encouraging
one if the standard taken be that of the Home Churches.
In this Commission we represent Churches which, for
the most part, allowed more than a millennium to
pass before taking up their missionary duty. Even
to-day it is only a small proportion of their members who
take any real interest in tlie foreign missionary enterprise,
and it is a still smaller proportion who put forth any
personal endeavour to v/in the godless in their own
neighbourhood to Christ. A typical answer from the
foreign field is, " Our people are not nearly as anxious to
spread the good news as they should be if they were
filled with the Spirit of God, but they are probably con-
siderably more faithful than the average of the Church
at home." Regard must also be had to the past which
lies close behind the new converts on nearly every field
and which still dogs them. They have been trained in
the utter selfishness of heathenism, and habituated to
care for none but their own kindred, caste, and tribe.
The Church is in many cases a small and poor Christian
community, whose resources are strained in supporting
their own pastors, while the time and strength of the
pastors is often absorbed in caring for the due training
and shepherding of their uninstructed and tempted
Church members. Where Western commerce has come
in and brought in its train a foreign settlement, a taint
of commercialism is almost invariably imparted to the
native comnmnity, which tends to sap the evangelistic
zeal at least of the youth of the Church. And it must
also be confessed, that even on the part of missionaries
there has sometimes been followed, consciously or un-
consciously, a policy which has tended (in addition to
that of a foreign-paid native agency already separately
referred to) to discourage native enthusiasm. The
practice, if not the policy, is thus expressed in a com-
munication from China : " It is the missionaries' Church.
Every plan for work or extension comes from them ;
they meet, consult, decide what is best, and then set
332 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
about doing it, largely with the help of the native worker,
who has not, however, been called in to share their
counsels." And from India comes the query, " Who can
long interest himself in a work in the conduct ot which
he has no voice, where he is considered a machine not to
be consulted with, and where he is not at liberty to
impress his personality, and where the responsibility
also is not on his shoulders ? " These quotations illus-
trate a situation which is serious enough where it exists,
but which is by no means universal. And yet the
following opinion of the Bishop of Lahore may be quoted :
" It is certainly appalling how little of initiative and
power for leadership there is, or appears to be, in the
native Church at present, and I cannot doubt that this
is due, in part at least, to our own reluctance to entrust
them with independent charges and put them in a position
in which the capacity for leadership can develop itself."
Such considerations as these might well form a pre-
liminary apology for some marked deficiency in evangel-
istic zeal to be reported in the case of the Churches in
the mission field. But such deficiency is by no means
the rule. It is found, perhaps, in the older rather than
in the newer mission fields ; more in the Churches of
India than of the Far East, of South Africa than of
equatorial Africa. Nevertheless, the testimonies from
all fields convey the impression that the most fruitful
factor in the real expansion of the Church is the direct
work of her ordinary members. From villages as yet
unknown to missionaries, there come converts who
testify that they heard the Gospel from the lips of private
Christians trading there or residents who had elsewhere
heard the good news ; men and women are seen bringing
in new members to the catechumen's class ; the extension
of the area of the mission by the opening of new stations
is very frequently a result forced upon the mission by
the zeal and success of native Christians. A German
missionary estimates that of the converts in his district of
China five per cent, come from the foreign missionaries and
twenty-five per cent, from the Chinese agency, and seventy
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 333
per cent, from the rank and file of the Church. It is,
however, unsafe to draw too large generalisations.
A truer impression may be obtained from a rapid glance
at some of the fields. From Japan the testimony is
divided. To a considerable extent the work of evangelisa-
tion was between 1890 and 1900 set into the background
by the pre-occupation of the energies of the Church in
maintaining her own existence. But this stage was
successfully lived through, and in recent years the
numerical increase shows that there is a life which com-
pares favourably with that of the Church at home, and
the conception of evangelistic responsibility has come
again more clearly into the forefront. The Church in
Korea, under the influence of the remarkable revival
there, furnishes at present the brightest and gladdest
example of a Church filled with evangelistic fire. In
some cases it is made a condition of Church membership
that the applicant should have endeavoured to win others
to Christ. In some cases, also, members are pledged to
give time for personal evangelistic work. " At one Con-
ference, after adopting the tithe as the lowest standard of
money giving, they pledged enough time for evangelistic
work to equal the time of one man for ten years. At
another meeting, one said he would give during the next
year a hundred and eighty days free of aU charges. At
the next annual meeting he came with apologies, saying he
was sorry that it required more time to prepare than he
had thought and he had only been able to give a hundred
and sixty-nine days."
In Manchuria the growth of the Church, after it had
begun to be, has been almost entirely the fruit of the
personal labours of the converts, the foreign staff being
scarcely adequate to the work of examining and in-
structing candidates and organising and supervising
the infant congregations throughout the field. Many
illustrations of evangelistic zeal might be recorded.
Dr. Christie of Moukden narrates the following : "A
patient came to the Moukden hospital many years
ago. When admitted he had never heard the Gospel,
334 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
but before he left he had a clear knowledge of Christian
truth and showed an intense desire to make it known
to others. For many years he witnessed for Christ,
most of the time without salary of any kind and under
no control but that of his heavenly Master. The
missionary who had charge of the district where he
laboured till his martjn-dom by the Boxers, tells us that
he was a direct means of leading at least two thousand
souls into the fold of Christ." In China, while there is
great variety of testimony, there are not a few districts
where the native Church is working bravely. In Shan-
tung there is in use the plan of time subscription already
referred to in the case of Korea. It is possible that
foreigners hardly know liow much is due to native con-
verts. One missionary in Swatow writes : " At one of
our Conferences the question was put by the Chairman,
' Will those please stand up who have been attracted
to Christianity by their Christian neighbours ? ' We
foreigners were not a little surprised ; the body of the
audience got up,"
India has felt the difficulty of the payment of natives,
already referred to, more than any other country, as
also the discouraging influence of too exclusive a con-
centration of the direction of the work in foreign hands ;
but although it is sometimes stated by Indians that
the dislike of foreign control keeps them out of Christian
service, one correspondent points out that the National
Missionary Society, though purely national in its manage-
ment, has had few suitable offers. From many quarters,
however, comes the expression of the belief that the
wish to evangelise is growing in the Indian Church.
Here and there, young men in independent positions
are giving time to preaching. In Jaffna there is an
annual campaign in all the Churches, and in Tinnevelly
" every large congregation has its regular system of
street preaching to their heathen neighbours." One
day in the year too is set apart as a Gospel festival, when
men and women go out into the villages to proclaim the
Gospel.
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 335
From the equatorial regions of Africa we have de-
lightful evidence of a simple but unwearied evangelism
as characteristic of the Christian community. Thus
one missionary in Calabar writes : " It is seldom that
in any outlying districts there wiU not be found a house
that is used as a meeting-place ; and although no paid
evangelist has settled among them, one man will make
it his diity to hold regular service among them on
the Sabbath. In the more important districts those
interested will combine to build a church, and if they can
persuade one of their ov/n people to give his time to the
v/ork, they are ready to engage him as a teacher during
the week and as a preacher on Sunday." And a missionary
in Livingstonia writes : " Every Sabbath hundreds of
our Christians preach in the villages round about their
place. I fancy that from fifteen to twenty per cent, of
the Church members are engaged in teaching in Sabbath
Schools or in preaching every Vv^eek, and that entirelj?
without pay. On Saturdays preachers' classes are held,
when a sermon is suggested for the village preachers and
a skeleton given to them." As for the territories where
Mohammedanism holds sway, it is impossible to discuss
the state of the Church, in so far as it is composed of
Moslem converts, for the simple reason that these are in
almost every case too few to allow of their being judged
as a Church at all. But with regard to the Christian
Churches alongside of Mohammedanism in the Levant,
it is sadly apparent that they have had the thought of
evangelism crushed out of them by their surroundings.
They have lived so long on sufferance that they scarcely
dare to think of undertaking aggressive operations ;
experience of Moslem morality has made them doubt
that any Mohammedan can ever sincerely surrender
to the Christian appeal ; and, at the same time, their
memories of massacre throughout the Turkish Empire
are so vivid, that the thought of contact with their
oppressors is a serious test of their Christian character.
There are thus the very greatest differences in the
extent to which the native Churches in non-Christian
336 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
lands are animated by the evangelistic spirit of the
Gospel. But in the great majority of the reports the note
struck is one of hopefulness. Even in the lands that are
most backward, there is the starting of a new spirit ;
men and women are beginning to long that their fellows
should share in the love of Christ, and an important
problem of missions to-day is how to accentuate and then
to guide this divine impulse.
IV. ORGANISED EVANGELISTIC WORK ON THE PART
OF THE NATIVE CHURCHES
In the previous section attention was directed rather
to the measure in which the evangelistic spirit animates
the Churches, than to its outcome in organised work. In
practice it has attested itself chiefly through unorganised
work, that is to say, through individual effort. It is un-
doubtedly through the outgoing of Christian zeal along
the opportunities given in the ordinary intercourse of
family and social and business life, and in methods fairly
adapted to individual and local conditions, that the great
evangelistic task of the native Church is to be most
largely accomplished. But in recent years there have
come into being more definitely organised missionary
endeavours on the part of some native Churches, of which
account must be taken. They have reference both to
the evangelisation of the local community, and to the
evangelisation of heathen at a distance.
Going back a few decades, one of the finest illustrations
of missionary effort on the part of native Churches is
found in the devoted labours of the Christianised South
Sea Islanders to evangelise adjoining islands, and in the
splendid succession of workers provided by them for the
evangelisation of New Guinea. Endeavours were also
made to start independent missions, but few of these
attained an independent basis. The Church formed out
of the freed slaves of Jamaica resolved to start a mission
to Old Calabar, but the project was at once taken up by
the parent Churches in Scotland and developed into the
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 337
Old Calabar Mission of the United Presbyterian Church.
In more recent years the Jamaica Church has instituted
a very successful mission to the East Indian coolies in
that island. The West Indian African Mission, now in
organic relationship with the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel, has since 1855 been sending missionaries
of African descent from the West Indies to French
Guinea. The Basuto Church inaugurated a mission
to Barotsiland, and M. Coillard went forth as its leader ;
but it has become a mission of the Paris Evangelical
Society. The Church of the Synod of Kaffraria, in con-
nection with the Free Church of Scotland, undertook a
mission to the Zoutpansberg ; but in recent years this
mission has had to appeal for support to the United Free
Church of Scotland. In aU these cases, excepting in the
case of the Jamaica East India Mission, the original base
was not strong enough for the task, but it has supplied
support in agents and means.
During more recent years, the missionary zeal of the
native Church has taken shape in the formation of several
more or less independent native missionary organisations
or societies. Some of these may be mentioned. The
Jaffna Students' Missionary Society is among the oldest of
them. The National Missionary Society of India and the
Indian Missionary Society of Tinnevelly are well-known
examples in India. The Telugu Baptist Christians of South
India have organised the Telugu Baptist Natal Mission,
and in 1903 sent out their first missionary to South
Africa to work for the Indians who emigrated to Natal.
The Chinese Missionary Society in California is an inde-
pendent effort of Chinese Christians in the United States
to help their heathen countrymen in the Kwangtung
Province. Many more or less independent missionary
organisations in India have begiin or are beginning
mission work in one part or other of that vast continent.
Japanese missionary associations are bringing the Gospel
to Japanese immigrants in Korea, Manchuria, and
Formosa. Korean evangelists are being sent by the
Korean Christians among the Koreans of Quelpart,
COM. I. — 22
338 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Siberia, Manchuria, Hawaii, and California. The Chris-
tian Church of Manchuria has sent two missionaries
to labour in the far north among their benighted country-
men in Tsitsihar. And the Kongsi Batak, the native
missionary society of the Batak tribes on the Island of
Sumatra, is doing a difficult pioneering work among the
savage tribes along the northern and eastern shores of
Lake Toba. We hail with gratitude this widespread
missionary movement, and trust that it will develop
and evoke a still greater missionary enthusiasm among
the native Churches. In most of the cases referred to
above, it should be noted that the counsel and guidance
of the European missionaries have been fraternally asked
and fraternally given.
V. METHODS OF DEVELOPING THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT
IN THE NATIVE CHURCHES
The important question now arises, How may the
missionary spirit best be developed in the native Churches ?
Are there any steps which should be taken to this end ?
The question of training the native Church up to its ideal
belongs of course to Commission II., but a few remarks
are called for here as to methods which experience has
shown to be specially effective in producing a missionary
Church. The first factor is the belief of the missionary
himself in the importance of native help in evangelistic
work, and in the necessity of qualifying the native worker
to render efficient evangelistic service. The principle of
Dr. Laws, of the Scottish Livingstonia Mission, is a sound
one, that the missionary should never do any work
which the native worker is able to do for himself. The
missionaries of former generations have perhaps not
realised this principle sufficiently, with the result that it
has often required more toil and patience on their part
to teach the native Christians of the following generation
a lesson which is the more difficult because it demands
in some measure a new departure. It is of importance
that from the very outset missionaries should impress
THE CHURCH IN THK MISSION FIELD 339
upon the converts their evangelistic obligations. There
are missionaries who have done this, and the results have
been of greatest advantage for the development of the
Christian life within the Church, as well as for its numerical
expansion. Where this spirit has not yet been developed
in the native Church, it is obviously the duty of the
missionary to do all in his power to kindle it and lift it into
ascendancy. Special appeals for missionary service, and
meetings where reports of mission work are given, should
be of frequent occurrence. As far as possible in every
congregation campaigns should be organised in which
the qualified members should proclaim the Gospel to
their neighbours in the adjoining villages or districts. It
is well when, as in Livingstonia, each congregation has
itself a hinterland or district for the evangelisation of
which it makes itself responsible. Every member should
also be led to feel an obligation to help to send the Gospel
to those in other districts or countries which are in still
greater need. General meetings, synodical gatherings,
and other opportunities should be made use of for wide-
spread evangelism in the surrounding country. Often
special classes or Bible schools have proved useful as a
means of developing the evangelistic spirit of the natives,
and of increasing the native evangelistic staff. The
appointment of special commissions or committees to
visit native Christian centres and present the evangel-
istic obligation has done much in some fields to raise the
level of missionary activity. Conferences on evangel-
istic work should be held at least in each great language
area. The ideal is that on the one hand the whole Church
should become filled with the evangelistic spirit, as in
Korea, Manchuria, Uganda, and Livingstonia, and on
the other hand a carefully instructed native staff should
be trained in the methods of evangelistic work. If the
Church is thus to abound with the spirit of self-propaga-
tion, and to be an aggressive force, earnest attention
must be given to building up its spiritual life and to
establishing its members in the cardinal doctrines of the
Christian faith.
340 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
VI. INADEQUACY OF EXISTING NATIVE CHURCHES
FOR THE EVANGELISTIC TASK
While the burden of evidence fro'n the field has
constrained us to lay the greatest stress upon the
importance of evangelising through the native Church,
and to emphasise accordingly the duty of developing
this agency, we are brought back at the close of our
review face to face with the existing situation, and are
compelled to ask, What, then, is the present need ? To
secure evangelisation of those lands in which the two
factors are presently at work, the body of foreign
missionaries and the native Church, what is the policy
to be pursued ? Does the situation anywhere call for
the withdrawal or decrease of the foreign missionaries ?
In no case does any correspondent suggest that the
time has come for withdrawing the foreign agency.
One correspondent, who has travelled through several
fields with more than usual capacity for observation,
protests against any marked increase of Western agents
in India, China, and Japan, on the ground that it would
arouse antagonism against Western domination and
jeopardise the whole work. But others, whose judgment
is entitled to equal consideration, plead a special urgency
in the existing situation for strong rein (oi cements. All,
including native leaders of the countries named, agree
that there must, both for the present and for some time
to come, be a measure of combination of the two forces.
The question accordingly resolves itself into one of the
proportions required in the combination, and tliis again
depends partly on whether regard is had to the method
of a gradually ordered advance, or to the immediate
exigencies of the campaign
As already indicated, the view has been expressed by
correspondents that some missions might have attained
a richer result to-day if in the earlier stages there had
been more concentration of effort upon the production
of an evangelistic Church, even although such a policy
might have involved the limiting of the number of
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 341
foreign workers and delay in securing the results. A
corresponding view is expressed by some with regard
to the present situation. The policy suggested may
involve self-denial on the part of the foreign force in
refusing to take immediate advantage of tempting
openings for work ; it may involve the hardship of seeing
opportunities pass and hindrances strengthening them-
selves ; it may seem to involve the steeling of the heart
against the appeal of obvious needs ; but in order that
the truer method may be followed, and the remoter
harvest be larger and of surer quality, they would limit
the foreign force by regard to what is needed for the
development of the native Church, rather than extend
it by a regard to what is required for the immediate and
effective evangelisation of the non-Christian people.
But the latter consideration is that which dominates
the expression of opinion from the foreign field. For
one thing, on all the more prominent fields where the
native Church is at work, the task of evangelisation is
far larger than should be left to the native Church to
attempt unaided. The unevangelised areas are still
immense, and the duty of carrying the Gospel to the
masses in these areas pertains to the Church of Christ
as a whole. Christians of the West dare not disown
responsibility for carrying it to those of an Eastern or
African nation, to whom the Christians in that nation
cannot possibly carry it within a reasonable time, while
the Christians of the West can. The cry of the un-
evangelised in those areas is a call for foreign reinforce-
ments, as well as for more earnest advance on the part of
the native Church. Further, in many mission fields
the situation is critical. There are at present great
opportunities which may soon pass away ; there are
forces in movement which may soon render the situation
much more difficult ; there are positions to be seized
which may immensely influence the outcome of the future
campaign. In some cases the strengthening and expansion
of the foreign force is absolutely necessary in order to
secure the position of the native Church, and allow ol
342 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the proper development of its evangelistic activity. The
rapid expansion of Islam in Africa, the propaganda of
anti-Christian thought and opinion in India and the
Fax East, the inflow of materialising civilisation
through the channels of commerce, are outstanding
facts which emphasise the foregoing considerations.
It is the triumph of Christianity which is at stake, and
foreign forces must rally to the fight on fields where
otherwise the native Churches would be left to an unequal
combat against the common foe.
Besides the vastness and the urgency of the work of
evangelisation to be still overtaken, stress is laid by our
correspondents generally, and even by such representative
correspondents as Pandita Ramabai in India and the
Hon. T. H. Yun of Korea, on the importance of the
assistance, and to some extent even of the oversight,
of the foreigner. The small native Church, left to
itself, is in danger within a generation or two of losing
its tone under the influence of monotony, isolation, or
ill-success. As a rule, it needs the guidance and stimulus
of the spiritual ideas, as well as the spiritual aids, which
are supplied through contact by means of missionaries
with the life of older Churches. While many noble
leaders have arisen among the early converts in the
field, it will take time to develop a sufficient number
of men of knowledge, gifts, and character to enable the
Church to stand with advantage, or even with safety,
apart from foreign missionaries. There are also
difficulties and temptations peculiar to the early stages
of Church life, in respect, for example, of the exercise
of discipline or the practice of litigation in China, and
toward the surmounting of these the help of the foreign
missionary is commonly invaluable. These considera-
tions are put forward by our correspondents to show
that even for the sake of the native Church, to make
it a still more effective instrument of evangelisation,
it is necessary stiU to maintain the staff of foreign
missionaries working alongside of it and in co-operation
with it; and this is true in almost every field. Jt is
THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 343
obviously most desirable that the missionaries who are
entrusted with such work as tliis should be men of the
very highest spiritual and intellectual qualifications.
The consideration already emphasised should be
reiterated that on almost every field the task waiting
to be accomplished and urgently demanding accomplish-
ment is far beyond the unaided resources of the existing
native Church. To carry the Gospel to all the world
requires, even in fields where a native Church has been
developed, an immense addition to the number of foreign
missionaries, both men and women. And besides these
fields, there are the vast areas where no Church has yet
been formed.
But while the call is urgent for the sending forth of
more missionaries than ever, it must never be forgotten
that the great objective of their endeavour in every field
they enter is the creation and training of a native Church.
The Church of Christ in each nation or tribe is the
supreme instrument for its complete evangelisation.
Directly or indirectly, the missionary of the future will
be judged according as he is the maker of evangelists
in the native Church — men and women who devote
themselves to the work under the constraining influence
of the love of Christ.
THE STATE OF THE HOME CHURCH
IN ITS BEARING UPON THE WORK
OF CARRYING THE GOSPEL TO
ALL THE NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD
The state of the Church has a profound influence on
the evangehsation of non-Christian lands. The mis-
sionary enterprise is the projection abroad of the Church
at home. It shares in a much larger measure than is
usually recognised the ideals and spirit of the Home
Church, and carries their influence into the life of the
Church which it creates in the non-Christian world.
This relation between the Church at home and the
Church abroad has become increasingly close with the
constant shrinkage of the world during the past few
decades. As a result of improved means of communica-
tion the world has within a generation become one-third
its former size. Nations which were as far apart as if they
had been on different planets, so far as exerting a practical
influence upon each other is concerned, have been
drawn together, and the whole world for the first time
has become one. By means of the various applications
of steam and electricity, the world has become one
neighbourhood. The nations and peoples have been
drawn into closer touch with each other through
trade and commerce, through the growing volume of
travel, through the migration of students from land to
land, through the influence of international societies
of various kinds, through the activity of the press,
through the development of international law, as well as
through foreign missions. Moreover, some of the
344
STATE OF THE HOME CHURCH 345
great nations of the West have acquired foothold,
not only in Africa but also in the Far East. On
account of the stupendous economic and social changes
now taking place in the non-Christian nations, creating
wants which at present can be supplied only by the West,
these nations are entering into commercial relations
with the West as never before. As a result of all this
intermingling, the nations and races are acting and re-
acting upon each other with increasing directness, con-
stancy, and power. No longer does the world exist in
water-tight compartments.
It is not strange, therefore, that the state of the Home
Church and its attitude toward the commercial, social,
and political practices which obtain in so-called Christian
lands should affect in a most real and vital way the
progress and standards of the Church in the non-Christian
countries. To the question as to what constitutes the
most crucial problem in connection with the great task
of carrying the Gospel to all mankind, the larger pro-
portion of our correspondents in all parts of the world
agree in repljdng, "The state of the Home Church."
This fact is highly significant. It demands earnest
consideration.
Wherein does the state of the Home Church affect the
work of making Christ known to the non-Christian
world ? Manifestly it does so through its influence
on the missionaries whom it sends forth. It is the home
in which are enlisted and trained the pioneers, founders,
and leaders of world - evangelisation. Much depends
upon the environment or atmosphere in which they
form their ideals and habits and receive their training.
The missionaries, it is true, constitute an exceptional
body of workers. In doctrinal integrity, ethical stand-
ards, and evangelistic zeal they are on a level which is not
generally attained by the members of the Home Church.
This might be expected, since they constitute a very
carefully selected company, and also from the fact that
contact with the deep needs of the non-Christian world
drives them back to fundamental realities. Yet the mission-
346 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
aries, consciously or unconsciously, are deeply influenced
by the Home Church. If its spiritual life is warm and
vigorous, this necessarily is a source of strength and
inspiration to them ; whereas if the Home Church is formal
and inert, it produces upon them a depressing effect.
The examples are not few showing that the theological
unrest of the Church in certain Christian lands is re-
flected in the substance or spirit of the teaching by the
missionaries abroad. Moreover, the spiritual power of
the missionaries and their success in the work are critically
related to the measure and the fervour of prayer on their
behalf in the Home Church.
The state of the Home Church affects the work through
its influence on many of the native Christian workers and
members. Besides the influence communicated indirectly
through the missionaries, an increasing number of native
leaders study or travel in Christian lands, read the
periodicals and other literature of the West, and are
thus more directly exposed to the currents of thought
in the Home Church. One does not need to look far to
observe the influence of destructive criticism and of
the so-called new theology on Christian writers, teachers,
and preachers in Japan and India. With the increasing
nearness of Christian and non-Christian lands, and the
multiplication of channels of intercourse between them,
the tendency will be for the Church in the lands to which
the missionaries are sent to adopt the religious standards
of the lands which send them.
The state of the Home Church affects the work by the
measure in which it is able to Christianise the various in-
fluences through which Christian lands affect non-Christian
nations. Were the Church true to its high calling not only
its professed members, but the other people of Christian
lands, would be more thoroughly leavened by the ideals and
motives of Christianity, and the political actions of Christian
nations would be more definitely governed by its prin-
ciples. Thus the influences which go out from Christian
lands along other than missionary lines would be rendered
helpful to the missionary enterprise. Unhappily, the
STATE OF THE HOME CHURCH 347
nominal Christianity, which in some cases is virtual
paganism, of some who represent Western nations abroad
in commercial and other pursuits is an immense hind-
rance to the cause of Christ. The corrupt lives and
practices of others from the West who are not even
nominal Christians are likev/ise a stumbHng-block in
the v/ay of the missionary propaganda. The un-
christian attitude of so many European and American
travellers to the people of the lands which they visit
still further handicaps the success of mission work. It
would be difficult also to exaggerate the evil effect pro-
duced by unrighteous aggressions on the part of Western
nations upon non - Christian nations and peoples.
Wrongly or otherwise, all these things are often held
up as proofs of the powerlessness of the Christian religion.
Moreover, students and others who go from non-
Christian lands to study in the West, in many cases,
on their return to their homes, oppose Christianity
because of the un-Christian treatment which they have
experienced, or because of the anomalies and incon-
sistencies between the creed or ideals and the actual
conduct of Christians, as observed by them. They are
impressed by the fact that in nearly every Christian
land there are so many people outside the Church.
A Church too weak in faith and too lukewarm in spirit to
fulfil its mission at home is thereby generating serious
hindrances to the progress of its work abroad.
But most of all does the state of the Home Church
affect the work through the direct and vital connection
subsisting between the performance of the work and
the quality and fulness of its own spiritual life. The
work of making Christ known to the non-Christian
world is rooted in the deepest motives of the Christian
life ; its imperative obligation is realised through a
clear vision of the supreme truths of the Gospel ; it
demands consecration of lives and of substance in stead-
fast obedience to the Divine call ; it is a work imposed
upon the whole membership of the Church, and, as the
direct effort of the Church to fulfil the great task com-
348 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
mitted to her, it demands the consecration of all the
available energies and resources of the Church in order
to its accomplishment. But the Church of to-day is
very far from such a conception of its relation to the
work of evangelising the world. The spiritual life
found in it is limited by want of enlightenment and
by the imperfection of its communion with God.
The growing spirit of commercialism and materialism
which characterises this age has cast its influence
over the Church. It has promoted habits of luxury,
softness, and worldliness, and manifests itself also
in a lack of the sacrificial spirit. The attitude of
the Church toward great social and national evils and
sins is not suggestive of earnest purpose or adequate
power to overcome them. It is a time of doubt and
hesitation among many Christian ministers and teachers.
Ultimate authority in religion is a subject of most divers
opinions. Cardinal doctrines are discussed as open
questions. The miraculous element is treated with
suspicion or disdain in many quarters. Whenever religion
is thus thrown into the melting-pot, as it were, it is
obviously enfeebled, for the time, in its propagating power.
The life of the Church suffers from lack of clear con-
viction and of resolute loyalty to Christ throughout the
whole sphere of duty. While the missionary obhgation
of the Church may be formally acknowledged, it is
viewed with widespread apathy and indifference.
The consideration of the defects, shortcomings and
weaknesses of the Home Church has led some to question
whether we have a Christianity which should be pro-
pagated all over the world. Were it necessary to pro-
pagate the blemishes and errors of our Western Chris-
tianity this question would be most serious. Certainly
we must exercise all vigilance not to dispense poison
with the bread of life. We should avoid spreading posi-
tive or known errors which would neutralise the Gospel
as it is presented in non-Christian lands. We must not
press upon other races undesirable and unessential
features of our Western Church life. Our Western idio-
STATE OF THE HOME CHURCH 349
syncrasies of thought and practice and our endless
sectarian subdivisions should be overcome or at least
be left at home. Without doubt our home divisions
are a great hindrance to the evangelisation of the world.
To the Oriental mind, for example, our denominational
distinctions and varieties of emphasis are bewildering,
Mozoomdar thus voiced this feeling : " You urge me to
become a Christian. Which of the numberless forms
of Christianity shall I accept ? I shall always be a Christ-
man, but never a Christian."
Happily the Home Church stUl possesses the essentials
of primitive Christianity. It sends forth its representa-
tives to propagate the Christianity of the New Testa-
ment— to bring the non-Christian world face to face
with the historic and therefore the hving Christ, and
with the teachings of His inspired Apostles. This is
the Christianity that not only teaches God truly but
gives God actually to the world, through His incarnation
in Jesus Christ ; and gives the world to God through
its regeneration in Christ, by participation in His Spirit
and Life. It is on this platform that all the victories
of the Christian faith have been won. The worth of
Christianity as a missionary force is measured by what
it has of Christ. If He be lifted up He draws men of all
nations, races, and stations. The Church is more fully
acquainted with Christ than in any preceding age. Thus,
though certain forms of our Christianity may not be
worth propagating, our Christ should be proclaimed
to all men. If we give to the world our best we shall be
giving something that is infinitely v/orthy to be received
by the world, and which also may justly claim the alle-
giance of the world. It is the only Christianity we have,
and the only Christianity for the world. We cannot
bring ourselves to consent to the proposition that it should
not be propagated. In that wonderful letter which Dr.
Rainy wrote on behalf of the Free Church of Scotland,
in reply to the greeting of old Madras CoUege students
to the General Assembly in Edinburgh on the occasion
of Principal Miller's Moderatorship, the heart of the
350 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
matter is aptly expressed : " We men in the West have
no better claim to Jesus Christ than you have. We
possess nothing so precious — we value nothing so much —
we have no source of good so full, fruitful, and enduring —
we have nothing to compare with the Lord Jesus Christ.
To Him we bear witness. And we should gladly consent
that you should cease to listen to us, if you would be led
to give your ear and your heart to Him." Where this
conviction and this spirit dominate the life of the Church,
it possesses the vital force of missionary effort and
sacrifice.
It thus appears that an essential part of the task of
evangelising the world is the lifting of the Church at
home into a fuller spiritual life. As it learns the mind
and heart of Christ, and is possessed by His Spirit, it will
become more missionary, and also mightier in aU its
missionary work. In all planning for forward move-
ments or for expansion of missions, this truth must be
kept in the foreground. While it is true that a deepening
interest in foreign missions invariably strengthens the
spiritual life of the Church, and promotes its fruitfulness
in all directions, it is equally true that larger operations
and greater power abroad are impossible unless the
life of the Church at home is marked by greater enlighten-
ment, devotion, and fidelity to its Lord. The two go
together. They indicate the tremendous responsibility
resting upon the ministers and office-bearers of the Church,
who are called to care for its well-being, and the due
fulfilling of its functions. On ministers more than all
others devolves the duty of educating the Church to its
missionary duty, of supplying to the people the vision,
the motives, the enthusiasm which shall make the Church
equal in spiritual power to the present world-situation.
Nothing less than a Church tremendously in earnest can
evangelise the non-Christian world.
THE SUPERHUMAN FACTOR IN CARRY-
ING THE GOSPEL TO ALL THE
NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD
As we complete the survey of the enormous task involved
in making Christ known to all the non-Christian world,
and .realise as never before the inadequacy of human
agents and agencies as well as of human policy and
strategy, the first impression made upon us is that the
Church is totally unable by itself to discharge its over-
whelming responsibility. The next and dominant impres-
sion is that Almighty God is able, and that the Church
must be led to avail itself of His limitless resources to a
degree hitherto unknown since that vital age — the first
generation of Christianity. Hundreds of correspondents,
including missionaries, native Christian workers and
leaders of the missionary activities on the home field,
while they have differed on nearly all questions pertaining
to plans, means, and methods, have been absolutely
united in the expressed conviction that the world's
evangelisation is a Divine enterprise, that the Spirit
of God is the great Missioner, and that only as
He dominates the work and workers can we hope for
success in the undertaking to carry the knowledge of
Christ to all people. They believe that He gave the
missionary impulse to the early Church, and that to-day
all true mission work must be inaugurated, directed, and
sustained by Him.
No lesson of missionary experience has been more
fully, impressively, and convincingly taught than that
apart from the Divine working all else is inadequate.
The hope and guarantee of carrying the Gospel to all the
non-Christian world do not rest principally on external
051
352 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
favouring advantages which Christianity may possess in
certain fields ; nor upon the character and progress of the
civilisation of Christian countries ; nor upon the number,
strength, experience, and administrative ability of the
missionary societies ; nor upon the variety and adapt-
ability of missionary methods and the efficiency of mis-
sionary machinery ; nor upon an army of missionary
evangelists, preachers, teachers, doctors, and translators —
much as these are needed ; nor upon the relation of the
money power to the plans of the Kingdom ; nor upon
aggressive and ably led, forward missionary movements
either in the home Churches or on the foreign field ; but
upon the Living God dominating, possessing, and using
all these factors and influences.
I. THE PLACE OF THE SUPERHUMAN FACTOR
Everything vital to the success of the movement to
carry the Gospel to all the non-Christian world depends
upon the power of God Himself. In His hands is the
Government of the world. He has entrusted enormous
powers to Christian nations. His providence has opened
the approach to the non-Christian countries, determined
the order of their occupation, and developed agencies
and influences which facilitate the spread of Christianity.
Careful investigation has furnished countless illustrations
showing that He has preceded the messengers of the Gospel
and prepared the people to understand it and to be re-
sponsive to it. Unquestionably God has been working in
the world through the centuries before the coming of
Christ. " My Father worketh hitherto and I work."
He has been working through the non-Christian religions,
not alone in using such truth as they may possess for the
betterment of men, but also in making these religions
a schoolmaster to lead the peoples to recognise in due
time their need of Christ.
It is God who chooses and thrusts forth the workers
of His own appointment. The pages of missionary history
teach no lesson with more abundant and satisfying illustra-
THE SUPERHUMAN FACTOR 353
tions. On the authority of Christ it is hopeless to expect
to secure a sufficient number of missionaries apart from
His compeUing power, and even were it possible, they
would prove incompetent for the great work. Experience
is showing that when chosen and dominated by His Spirit,
a few men can do more than an army. It is He
who communicates to the workers, both foreign and
native, power not naturally their own ; which qualifies
them to do His work. He it is who guides
workers as truly to-day as in New Testament times to
discover the lines along which the Kingdom is to be
extended and built up. The large, growing, and permanent
spiritual fruitage is the product of His gracious and life-
giving work. The secret of the power of those missionaries
who accomplish the largest and deepest work is not what
they do and say, but the fact of the presence of Christ
in them and with them. They see with His eyes, feel
with His heart, work with His energies. Christ is every-
thing with them. They move among men as embodiments
of His superhuman power, under whose vitaUsing'iiouch
dead souls start into life. The power of God may be seen
also in the ability given to His servants to go on working
steadily year in and year out, even with little or no ap-
parent results, but sustained by a sense of duty and by an
undying hope that the Lord will surely see of the travail
of His soul and be satisfied. Moreover, no one but the
Almighty Spirit can cause the missionaries of the different
Christian communions, and also the native Christian
workers, to work with that harmony and unity which
are essential to universal conquest.
God alone enables workers to face with calm and
courageous hearts the stupendous obstacles and difficulties
which lie across their path and to triumph over them.
The fearful inertia and conservatism of the non-Christian
world ; the prevalence of ignorance, superstition, false-
hood, moral perversity and coarseness, fear, fatalism,
godlessness, selfishness, and lovelessness ; the racial pre-
judices and antagonisms ; the corrupt lives and practices
of representatives of Christendom ; " the principalities,
COM. I. — 23
354 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
the powers, the world rulers of this darkness " — all this
would leave the workers discouraged and dismayed were
it not for faith in the Living Christ. Only the quickening
powers of His Gospel can overthrow or transform systems
of error rooted for thousands of years, and entwined with
the laws, institutions, customs, and sentiments of peoples
of ancient civilisations. The vast extent of the work to
be done and the subtle and baffling obstacles which oppose,
are such that nothing less than the action of the Living
God behind the presentation of the truth of Christ will
enable it to prevail and overcome.
It is God who overrules occasions and events, human
movements and powers, for the furtherance of the
Gospel. Dr. H. H. Lowry of Peking says, " Diplomacy
has generally been unfortunate ; commerce has selfishly
opposed the spread of Christianity ; the prejudice and
conceit of the officials and the people have been opposed
to the introduction of the Gospel. But all these together,
with persecutions, wars, and national calamities, have been
turned to the furtherance of the Gospel." Many have
called attention to the overruling hand of God in connec-
tion with the Boxer uprising of China. They recognise
His power and guidance in the fact that the very action
which was intended to extirpate Christianity in China has
had, as one of its results, an unprecedented forward move-
ment in missionary work in that country, and that since
the year 1900 the doors have been opened to the Gospel
far wider than before. Dr. Ford of Syria says, " Rarely
has the hand of God been more plainly revealed in the
march of human events than it was in the crises of July
igo8, and April 1909, in Turkey. These are indications
of the revelation of the supernatural factor in advancing
the Kingdom of God in the world."
Present-day missions constantly confirm the fact so
prone to be forgotten that it is the Spirit of God who
alone has power to convict men of sin. It is only when
He convicts of sin and of dire need that the soul becomes
willing to hear of Christ as a Saviour. The genuine
fruits of the Spirit, as shown in repentance, conviction,
THE SUPERHUMAN FACTOR 355
restitution, and the making up of long-standing quarrels,
have afforded convincing proof that God alone brings
home the Gospel with power to the hearts and con-
sciences of men. Even in discouraging fields of China,
He has shown His ability to overcome the fear of " loss
of face " and to call forth heart-breaking confessions
— not of ordinary shortcomings and failures, but of sins
which the Chinese would endure anything to conceal.
Men have been moved to confession of sin through
the working of this unseen Agent in their lives, who
could not be moved by any agency known among
Chinese Yamens. The Chinese are naturally a stolid
people, little given to emotion, but workers state that
such rending of the heart under conviction of sin they
have never seen in the home lands. There can be
no more marked and unmistakable proof of a present-
day working of a superhuman power than the work
of the Holy Spirit in such conversions as are taking place
in increasing numbers from year to year in all parts of
the non-Christian world. The breaking down, for ex-
ample, of the pride of a Moslem until, conscious of his sin,
he humbles himself at the Cross and becomes a new man
in Christ Jesus, is a present-day evidence of the super-
human character of the Christian faith. The fact that
men who were living indifferent, callous, degraded,
sensual, proud, cruel lives have become pure, faithful,
kind, spiritual, and zealous, and that they are triumph-
antly resisting their old temptations is satisfying evidence
that there is a power greater than human in the mis-
sionary movement.
The great spiritual awakenings and revivals in different
parts of the non-Christian world are the result of the work
of the Spirit of God. Mr. Goforth of China says that
since February 1908, he has conducted thirty special
missions in six provinces, and that in every place he has
seen God's power manifested in greater or less degree.
He testifies that " the sense of God's presence was over-
whelming and soon became unbearable. Others, Chinese
as well as foreigners, who have passed through scenes of
356 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
judgment have afterwards carried the fire to other centres
where the same Divine results have followed." The
recent wonderful revivals in other parts of China, in
Northern and Southern India, in all parts of Korea, and
the famous Taikyo Dendo in Japan a few years ago,
not to mention similar awakenings in other decades,
are traced by the missionaries to the same Divine source.
Nothing but the Uplifted Christ, drawing men to Him-
self, will account for the noble and Christlike characters
raised up on the mission fields from among those whose
lives were degraded and whose natures were hardened
and unresponsive. It is in Him they begin to see God,
for He brings God near to them and reveals to them God's
loving-kindness and saving power. In Him they see in
human form and action the holiness, love, and power of
the unseen God. One after another, men and women
in middle and advanced life, as well as the young, give
up their pride and sinful practices and all that has made
up the essence of their unholy life in the past, and then
go out and testify by life and word among their neighbours
that they have passed from darkness into light. Mis-
sionaries who have observed these radical changes and
who have had opportunity to talk with such persons,
to see the way in which the problems of life are faced
by them from the Christian standpoint, to understand
their motives and spirit, and to watch their consistent
Christian lives, have no doubt whatever that God and
not man is the prime mover in the missionary enterprise,
and that Christ is the centre and innermost working
power in these transformations of men. It does not take
many cases of this kind to create an overwhelming im-
pression that the Lord Christ is present in this work
to-day, as really as He was in the villages of Galilee.
The Rev. J. E. Adams, writing from Korea, voices the
conviction expressed by scores of missionaries from nearly
all quarters of the world: " I have experienced, tested,
and proved the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit in tlie
work of the conversion of men so constantly and with
such invariable results tliat any question on tlie
THE SUPERHUMAN FACTOR 357
subject has long ceased to exist. It has become one of
the assumed working postulates of life. No man living
in the conditions in which I have lived, even with the
most rudimentary instincts of scientific observation,
could arrive at any other conviction than that the Gospel
is the power of God." It is this ethical and spiritual
Christianity which will conquer the non-Christian nations.
A truly spiritual life, proved by its ethical results and
triumphant pov/er over temptation, can alone satisfy
their deepest needs. Such conversion is not simply
a change in name, opinion, or belief, but a new spiritual
experience, a coming to know personally the Living
Christ.
One of the unmistakable evidences of the work of
the Spirit of God is to be found in the way in which
Christians endure persecution. For example, the most
marked characteristic of the Chinese Christians is their
steadfastness, their willingness to endure hardship and
even death for the sake of Christ. There has never been
a time in the history of missions in China when the pro-
fession of Christianity did not entail risk of persecution.
Even before the year 1900, the blood of martjnrs had
been frequently shed in China, and in that year several
thousands of Christians were slain in the Boxer uprising
rather than renounce their faith. Many a Boxer formed
the purpose to join a catechumen class with a view to
baptism because he had witnessed the victory of faith
in his victims.
The transformation of communities as well as of in-
dividuals is also indicative of the work of Christ as God.
The testimony of Bishop Tucker as to the complete
change in the social life and practices of the people in
Uganda under the influence of the Gospel is a good
illustration. Another is the marvellous uplifting of
outcastes and lower castes in Northern and Southern
India as a result of the power of the Gospel. The manner
in which these most depressed and degraded of aU the
peoples in India have improved their social condition,
rebuked and overcome the forces of vice, erected theij
358 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
own schools and churches, spread the Gospel among their
neighbours, and suffered for Christ's sake, while leading
quiet, consistent Christian hves, is truly wonderful.
Some have based the argument for the superhuman on the
manifest change in the character and position of these
outcastes when brought into the fold of Christ. The
complete transformation of certain of the Pacific islands
constitutes another striking example. Dr. John Ross,
of Manchuria, says that while " Education is good, and
other intellectual and physical aids as well, all these
combined and at their very best, would never have
evolved the Church in Manchuria from the mass of
foreigner-hating idolaters who filled the land." Another
remarkable example of the influence of the Gospel is seen
among the Miao tribes of West China. Communities
that less than a decade ago were ignorant, degraded, and
very immoral are now moral and Christian. One does not
find examples of such transformations of communities as
a result of the teaching of the Baghavat Gita or Ramayana
or of the entrance of the Koran. It is the working of
powers that transcend human explanations, accompany-
ing the proclamation of the story of Christ and His Cross,
that accomplishes these wonders.
Another evidence of God's power is seen in the way in
which He fills the native Christian with a passion for
helping others, especially those in deepest need. On all
the mission fields there have been many splendid examples
of new converts making sacrifices to tell others of the salva-
tion which they have found. The manner in which many
hundreds of the ablest young men of the different non-
Christian nations and races have refused worldly advance-
ment and devoted their lives on comparatively insignifi-
cant salaries to the work of evangelising their non-
Christian countrymen and of carrying the good tidings of
salvation into regions beyond is a striking manifestation
of God's working. In fact, there is nothing more en-
couraging anywhere and nothing which so clearly proves
the' reality of their Christian experience. i '\
There are many other evidences showing that every-
THE SUPERHUMAN FACTOR 359
thing vital to the success and spread of the Kingdom of
Christ depends upon the Divine Factor. The work of
God is not confined to the extraordinary events and
experiences of Christian missions. The presence of God
cannot be divorced from the usual, from the expected,
and be associated only with the so-called miraculous.
His presence and work are to be seen in the commonplaces
of missionary experience and success. For those Chris-
tians who are genuine Christians every common bush " is
afire with God."
II. THE HUMAN CONDITION?
What are the conditions required for the forth-putting
of Divine power ? A mighty, almost irresistible power is
conveyed in an ordinary-looking wire cable on the two
main conditions, proper insulation and perfect contact. If
those abroad and at home who are seeking to make Christ
known to all the non-Christian world can be saved from
selfishness, and at the same time preserve their connection
with the abounding and never- failing Source of superhuman
power, they wUl accomplish what He surely wills —
the making of Christ known to all people. Granted a
sufficient number of workers, with lives dominated by
Christ, we may expect that He will put forth mightily
His living power. Unless they surrender themselves to
Christ and are controlled by His Spirit, unless they work
in His power, they had better turn from this service ; for
unyielded lives and unspiritual work wUl only be a hind-
rance to the enterprise.
The superhuman must be emphasised as never before
since the days of the Early Church. Christians need a
fuller, more constant and more commanding realisation
of the personals presence of Christ. Conferences -have
been held, not infrequently, both on the home field and
on the mission fields, at which the problems, methods,
and opportunities of the worklof;^world evangelisation
have received careful consideration, butHhere has been
alarming neglect to face the great central problem.
360 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
namely, how to translate into actual experience the
word of Christ, " He that abideth in me, and I in
him, the same beareth much fruit : for apart from
me ye can do nothing." WHierever even small groups
of Christians have faced this question, and have
been responsive to the truth as God has revealed it to
them, they have received new accessions of His power,
and have then gone forth to achieve triumphs in His
Name. The new visions, the new plans, the new move-
ments, the new power, will undoubtedly follow when
Christ is given His rightful place in His united Church.
Prayer is the method which relates the irresistible might
of God to the missionary enterprise. According to the
teaching of Christ and the experience of the Church, both
in the early centuries and in recent times, the greatest
manifestation of Divine power is in the pathway of the
intercession of His true followers. Every marked ad-
vance in the missionary enterprise has been preceded by
prayer. Every fresh accession of power which has come
upon the workers has been associated with prayer for the
Kingdom. Every visitation of the Spirit of God resulting
in spiritual awakenings in the Home Church and on the
mission fields, has been in itself a convincing evidence of
the reahty of prayer. Every grave crisis in the expansion
of Christianity which has been successfully met has been
met by the faithfulness of Christ's disciples in the secret
place. That there is a necessary connection between
the prayers of Christians on the one hand, and, on the other
hand, the revealing of Christ's plan, the raising up of
workers, and the releasing of the great spiritual forces
of the Kingdom, is a fact as clearly established as any
fact can be established. That God has conditioned so
largely the extension, the progress, and the fruitfulness of
His Kingdom upon the faithfulness and loyalty of His
children in prayer, is at the same time one of the deepest
mysteries and one of the most wonderful realities.
The Church has not yet discovered, still less begun to
realise, the limitless possibilities of intercession. How to
multiply the number of Christians who, with truthful Hves,
THE SUPERHUIMAN FACTOR 361
and with clear, unshakable faith in the character and
abOity of God, will, individually and collectively or
corporately as a Church, wield this force for the conversion
and transformation of men, for the inauguration and
energising of spiritual movements, and for the breaking
down of all that exalts itself against Christ and His pur-
poses— that is the supreme question of foreign missions.
From first to last this task, the making of Christ
known to all men, is a superhuman work. Every other
consideration and plan and emphasis is secondary to
that of wielding the forces of prayer. May the call go
forth from this Conference to the Christian Churches
throughout the world to give themselves as never before
to intercession, for this alone will bring to bear upon the
sublime work of carrying the Gospel to all the non-
Christian world the all-sufficient forces of the Ever-living
One to whom all power is given in heaven and on earth —
the Lord Jesus Christ.
PART IV
FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSION
FOREWORD
I. Ihe Commission, after studying the facts and
after taking counsel with the leaders of the missionary
forces of the Church at home and abroad, expresses its
conviction that the present is the time of all times for
the Church to undertake with quickened loyalty and
sufficient forces to make Christ known to all the non-
Christian world.
It is an opportune time. Never before has the whole
world-field been so open and so accessible. Never before
has the Christian Church faced such a combination of
opportunities among both primitive and cultured peoples.
It is a critical time. The non-Christian nations are
undergoing great changes. Far-reaching movements —
national, racial, social, economic, religious — are shaking
the non-Christian nations to their foundations. These
nations are stiU plastic. Shall they set in Christian or
pagan moulds ? Their ancient faiths, ethical restraints,
and social orders have been weakened or abandoned.
Shall our sufficient faith fill the void ? The spirit of
national independence and racial patriotism is growing.
Shall this become antagonistic or friendly to Christianity ?
There have been times when the Church confronted
crises as great as those before it now on certain fields ;
but never before has there been such^a synchronising
of crises in all parts of the world. i'li
It is a testing time for the Church. If it neglects to
302
FINDINGS 363
meet successfully the present world crisis by failing to
discharge its responsibility to the whole world, it will
weaken its power both on the home and foreign fields
and seriously handicap its mission to the coming genera-
tion. Nothing less than the adequacy of Christianity as
a world religion is on trial.
This is a decisive hour for Christian missions. The
call of Providence to all our Lord's disciples, of whatever
ecclesiastical connection, is direct and urgent to under-
take without delay the task of carrying the Gospel to all
the non-Christian world. It is high time to face this duty
and with serious purpose to discharge it. The oppor-
tunity is inspiring ; the responsibility is undeniable.
The Gospel is all-inclusive in its scope and we are
convinced that there never was a time more favourable for
united, courageous, and prayerful action to make the
universality of the Gospel ideal a practical reality in the
history of the Church.
2. The utter inadequacy of the present missionary
force to discharge effectively the duty of world-wide
evangelisation is evident. The present mission staff in
the foreign field is not sufficient even to compass fully
the work already in hand ; much less is it prepared to
accomplish any adequate expansion. On almost every
field the efficiency and hves of the workers are endangered
because of this effort to accomplish a task altogether too
great for their numbers. The present status in some
fields represents practically a deadlock ; in many other
fields there is no evidence of notable progress.
FINDINGS
I. It is the high duty of the Church promptly to dis-
charge its responsibility in regard to all the non-Christian
world. To do this is easily within the power of the
Church. Not to do it would indicate spiritual atrophy, if
not treasonable indifference to the command of our Lord.
Without attempting to estimate the necessary increase
in income ajid foreign staff, it is the conviction of the
364 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
Commission that the Church of Christ must view the world
field in its entirety and do it full justice. There should
be nothing less than a vast enlargement in the number
of qualified workers, a thorough and courageous
adaptation of means and methods to meet the situation,
a wise unification in plans and forces, and a whole-
hearted fulfilling of the conditions of spiritual power.
II. The Commission, after a careful study of the
missionary situation, and of the various considerations
which should govern such a recommendation, would
direct attention to the following fields as of special
urgency in respect of the prosecution of missionary work :
1. Fields on which the Church as a whole should con-
centrate attention and effort.
{a) In China there is at this moment a unique oppor-
tunity which is fraught with far-reaching issues for the
future not only of China and of the whole East, but also
of Christendom.
{b) The threatening advance of Islam in Equatorial
Africa presents to the Church of Christ the decisive
question whether the Dark Continent shall become
Mohammedan or Christian.
(c) The national and spiritual movements in India,
awakening its ancient peoples to a vivid consciousness
of their needs and possibilities, present a strong challenge
to Christian missions to enlarge and deepen their work.
{d) The problems of the Mohammedan World, especially
in the Near East, which, until recently, received little
consideration from the Church at large, have been lifted
unexpectedly into prominence and urgency, as well as
into new relations, by the marvellous changes which
have taken place in Turkey and Persia. One of the
important tasks before the Church at this time is to deal
adequately with these problems.
2. Fields which do not claim the attention of the
Church as a whole, but which demand additional effort
on the part of the societies already in some measure
occupying them.
In Korea an evangelistic movement extending rapidly
FINDINGS 365
over the land calls for a great strengthening of the mission-
ary force. In Japan the mission work which has been
centred in the great towns and among the higher middle
classes requires to be expanded effectively over the
country, and among all classes. In IMalaya Christian
missions must strain every nerve to prevent Islam
from gaining the heathen tribes, and to win them for
Christ. Siam and Laos also present an urgent appeal
for an aggressive advance. In Melanesia a multitude
of tribes in New Guinea and other islands are
opening in quick succession to Christian influences.
In various fields of pagan Africa, the Christian missions
which have been planted are confronted by immense
opportunities among those who are waiting for Gospel
teaching, but who cannot be reached by tlie forces now
on the field.
The rapid disintegration of the animistic and fetishistic
beliefs of primitive peoples in most of the lands in the
preceding lists presents an important problem. Most
of these peoples will have lost their ancient faiths within
a generation, and will accept that culture-religion with
which they first come in contact. The responsibility of
the Church is grave to bring the Gospel to them quickly,
as the only sufficient substitute for their decaying faiths.
3. The Jewish people have a peculiar claim upon the
missionary activities of the Christian Church. Christianity
is theirs pre-eminently by right of inheritance. The
Church is under special obligation to present Christ to
the Jew. It is a debt to be repaid, a reparation to be
fidly and worthily made. The attempts to give the
Gospel to this widely scattered yet still isolated people
have been hitherto inadequate. The need is great
for a change in the attitude of the Church towards
this essential part of the Great Commission. The call
is urgent in view of the enormous influence which the Jew
is wielding in the Vk^orld, especially throughout Christen-
dom. The winning of this virile race with its genius
for religion wiU be the strengthening of the Church of
Christ and the enrichment of the world.
366 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The enumeration of these fields might seem to suggest
that the Church is not able to deal adequately and
simultaneously with the entire non-Christian world.
But the Commission declines to concede that this is so.
After facing the facts we share the conviction of the
large majority of our correspondents that the Church
of Christ, if it puts forth its strength, is well able
to carry the Gospel to all these fields immediately.
While we recognise the greater urgency in the
case of certain fields, we find it impossible, in the
light of the needs of men, the command of Christ,
and the resources of the Church, to delay giving
to any people the opportunity to learn of Him. The
point of chief emphasis is, that what the Church expects
to do anywhere it must do soon. What is needed is a
regular, sustained advance all along the line, in which all
agencies shall be utilised and multiplied until they are
co-extensive with the need of the entire world.
III. The unoccupied fields of the world have a claim of
peculiar weight and urgency upon the attention and
missionary effort of the Church. In this twentieth
century of Christian history there should be no unoccupied
fields. The Church is bound to remedy this lamentable
condition with the least possible delay. Some of these
unoccupied fields are open to the Gospel, such as Mongolia
and many regions of Africa. In certain fields there are
difficulties of access to be overcome. Both in Africa
and Asia there are large regions belonging to the French
Empire in which there are no Christian missions. There
are other fields where political difficulties seem at present
to prevent occupation, such as Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan,
and Afghanistan. But the closed doors are few compared
with the open doors unentered. It is the neglected
opportunities that are the reproach of the Church. A
large proportion of the unoccupied fields are to be found
within the Mohammedan world, not" only in Northern
Africa and in Western Asia, but also in China. Indeed
by far the greater part of the Mohammedan world is
practically unoccupied. The claims of Christ upon the
FINDINGS 367
love and reverence of Moslem hearts should be faithfully
and patiently pressed, with a zeal which will not jdeld
to discouragement, and with passionate intercession
which God will be pleased to hear and honour. The
unreceptive and even defiant attitude of Islam towards
Christianity, and its unwillingness to acknowledge the
supreme Lordship of Christ, will yield to the Gospel if
Christians do their duty. Its long dominance and in-
tolerance are apparently being undermined by remark-
able events. The present accessibility of Islam, the
fruitfulness of the efforts already made, and the missionary
energy of the Moslem propaganda favour direct, earnest,
and unceasing efforts to convince the Mohammedans that
Christ alone is worthy of their allegiance and worship.
Emphasis should be laid on the need of special prepara-
tion on the part of all who are to devote themselves to
this great undertaking.
IV. In view of the world-wide task confronting the
Church of Christ, the proper disposition of the
missionary forces in order to an effective advance
becomes a question of vital importance. (i) With
regard to the work of individual missionaries or
missions, this question will be differently decided
according to the countries and the peoples to be
evangelised and the type of the evangelising mission, the
principle being that the sphere should be sufficiently
restricted to enable the missionary or the mission effec-
tively to influence the people. (2) With regard to the
work in large areas weU occupied for decades, such as
South Africa, some port cities, and other great centres
in such countries as Japan, China, and India, a new and
careful survey is necessary, if the undesirable crowding of
missions and stations in limited areas (due in most cases
to the unfavourable conditions at the beginning of
the work) is to be remedied by a proper rearrange-
ment of the stations and redistribution of the workers.
(3) With regard to the totally unoccupied or partially
occupied fields which on all sides invite missionary
extension, the wise policy is to extend by expanding the
368 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
work already in hand, and when estabhshing new work
to begin at strong strategic centres.
V. As the missionary forces are divided into numerous
independent organisations which are conducting foreign
missions in different lands and with diverse methods, it
is of the utmost importance that they should be in
close touch with each other, that they should be familiar
with each other's work and methods, and that they
should profit by each other's failures and successes.
The Commission recommends that an International
Committee should be formed for the consideration of
international missionary questions. This Committee,
in addition to serving as an agency for dealing with
questions on which the various missionary societies desire
to take co-operative action, would act as a council for
investigation and advice about such matters as the
unreached portions of the world, the actual occupation
of different fields, and the success and failure of
missionary methods. This Committee would naturally
avail itself of the co-operation of existing councils and
organisations both on the home and foreign fields.
VI. The Church on the mission field must be the
chief evangelistic agency if the Gospel is to be
preached to all men in our day. The evangelisation
of the non-Christian world is not alone a European,
an American, an Australasian enterprise ; it is equally
an Asiatic and an African enterprise. While the
number of well - qualified foreign missionaries must
be greatly increased in order to plant Christianity,
to establish the native Church, to place at its disposal
the acquired experience of the Christian Church, and
to enlist and train effective leaders, nevertheless the
great volume of work involved in making Christ known
to the multitudinous inhabitants of the non-Christian
world must be done by the sons and daughters of the
soil. It is essential, therefore, on every mission field
to seek to permeate the whole life of the Church
from its beginning with the evangelistic spirit, and
further, in proportion as the Church increases, tq
FINDINGS 369
develop strongly a native evangelistic staff, working
in co-operation with the foreign force. For this end
training-schools and classes must be multiplied and
developed. In this way leaders may be prepared who
will conduct a more effective indigenous training of
catechists, evangelists, and Bible-women, thus providing
a sufficient force for a greatly enlarged evangelistic
propaganda. Conferences on evangehstic work should
be held within large areas admitting of concerted action.
Moreover, if the Church is to abound with the spirit of
self-propagation and prove an aggressive force, more
attention must be given to building up its spiritual
life and to establishing its members in the cardinal
doctrines of the Christian faith.
VII. A crucial factor in the evangelisation of the non-
Christian world is the state of the Church in Christian
lands. On this point there is almost unanimous agree-
ment among missionaries abroad and leaders at home.
In the initial stages, at least, the Church at home deter-
mines the quality of the faith, ideals, and practices which
are being propagated. It chooses and commissions workers
who are to plant Christianity in the non-Christian fields
and influences their character and spirit. It hkewise
does much to determine the nature of the impact of
Christendom upon the non-Christian world through
political, commercial, industrial, and social relations and
activities. UntH there is a more general consecration on
the part of the members of the Home Church, there can
be no hope of such an expansion of the missionary enter-
prise as to result in making the knowledge of Jesus Christ
readily accessible to every human being. Further, it is
only through this more complete obedience to Him tha
the missionary movement can become irresistible an
triumphant in the fields where it is already at work. To
ensure such an outflow of the vitalising missionary forces
of the Church, its own life must be adequately energised.
Whatever, therefore, can be done to make the Home
Church conform in spirit and in practice to the New Testa-
ment teachings and ideals will contribute in the most
COM. I. — 24
370 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
powerful manner to the realisation of the great aim of the
world's evangelisation. A new and resolute awakening
of the Church to the richness of its heritage in the Gospel
and to the duty of an ardent, universal, and untiring
effort to make disciples of all nations, is the clear message
of God to the Church of to-day.
VI 11. Beyond doubt the most fundamental require-
ment of the missionary enterprise is a greater
appropriation of the power of the Spirit of God.
Important as are those aspects of the undertaking which
deal with the statistics, the machinery and the strategy
of missions, the leaders of the movement should concern
themselves far more with the spiritual dynamics of
missions. The most direct and effective way to promote
the evangelisation of the world is to influence the workers,
and indeed the whole membership of the Church at
home and abroad, to yield themselves completely to
the sway of Christ as Lord, and to establish and
preserve at all costs those habits of spiritual culture which
ensure lives of Christlike witnessing and of spiritual
power. To this end there should be promoted retreats
for groups of leaders, Bible institutes, conferences for
the deepening of the spiritual life of Church members,
and the ministry of private and united intercession.
All workers in foreign missions should seek a fresh and
constant realisation of the truth that they are fellow-
workers with God. In accordance with the word of our
Lord, " My Father worketh hitherto and I work," they
should seek a clearer understanding of the working of
God in governing the world, creating great opportunities,
removing grave obstacles, opening effectual doors, and
developing favourable conditions and influences. And they
should seek to realise with reverent wonder that through
them Jesus Christ in His grace is at the present time
working out the fulfilment of His own word, "I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." Our
Living Lord is the Supreme Worker in all mission work ;
His alone is the power ; and all true work on our part
is in reliance on His promise, " Lo, I am with you alway."
APPENDICES
TO THE
REPORT
APPENDIX A
LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS
To prevent any misconception, it may be premised that no
correspondent has any responsibility whatever for any statement
in the Report, unless he be quoted by name. The list is published
in order to show the pains taken by the Commission to secure an
adequate basis of information and opinion on which to base their
Report, and also by way of grateful acknowledgment of the
generous kindness and valuable help given by so large a number
of missionaries and other friends.
JAPAN
The Rev. Wm. Axling, American Baptist Foreign Mission Society,
Tokyo.
The Rev. A. A. Bennett, D.D. (deceased), American Baptist Foreign
Mission Society, Yokohama.
The Bishop of South Tokyo (The Right Rev. Cecil H. Boutfiower,
D.D.), Tokyo.
The Rev. William Campbell, F.R.G.S., Presbyterian Church of
England, Tainan, Formosa.
The Rev. Otis Cary, D.D., American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, Kyoto.
Prof. E. W. Clement, M.A., American Baptist Foreign Mission
Society, Tokyo.
Miss J. N. Crosby, Woman's Union Missionary Society, Yokohama.
The Rev. J. D. Davis, D.D., American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Kyoto.
The Rev. J. H. de Forest, D.D., American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, Sendai.
The Rev. Danjo Ebina, Kumiai Church, Tokyo.
The Late Bishop of Kyushu (The Rt. Rev. Henry Evington, D.D.).
Mr. Galen M. Fisher, M.A., Young Men's Christian Association,
Tokyo.
The Rev. D. C. Greene, D.D., American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Tokyo.
The Rev. J. B. Hail, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Wakayama.
The Rev. J. P. Hauch, Missionary Society of the Evangelical
Association, Tokyo.
372
APPENDIX A 373
Mr. C. V. Hibbard, Young Men's Christian Association, Tokyo.
The Rev. Bishop Y. Honda, D.D., Japan Methodist Church, Tokyo.
The Rev. Alfred T. Howard, D.D., United Brethren in Christ,
Tokyo.
President K. Ibuka, Church of Christ in Japan, Tokyo.
The Rev. J. T. Imai, Nihon Seiko Kwai, Tokyo.
The Rev. WilUam Imbrie, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Tokyo.
The Rev. Milton Jack, B.A., Presbyterian Church in Canada,
Tamsui, Formosa.
The Rev. O. H. Knight, M.A., Church Missionary Society, Matsuye.
Mr. T. Komatsu, Young Men's Christian Association, Tokyo.
The Rev. H. M. Landis, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Tokyo.
The Bishop in Kyushu (The Rt. Rev. Arthur Lea, D.D.), Fukuoka.
The Rev. C. A. Logan, Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (South),
Tokushima.
The Rev. Henry Loomis, American Bible Society, Yokohama.
The Rev. R. E. M'Alpine, Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (South),
Nagoya.
The Rt. Rev. John M'Kim, D.D., Bishop of the Missionary Dis-
trict of Tokyo.
J. Laidlaw Maxwell, jun., M.D., B.S., Presbyterian Church of
England, Tainan, Formosa.
The Rev. T. Miyagawa, Kumiai Church, Osaka.
The Rev. J. W. Moore, Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (South),
Susaki.
Joseph S. Motoda, B.D., Ph.D., Nihon Seiko Kwai, Tokyo.
The Rev. U. G. Murphy, Methodist Protestant Church, Nagoya.
The Rev. J. C. C. Newton, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, Kobe.
The Rt. Rev. Archbishop Nicolai, Russian Ecclesiastical Mission,
Tokyo.
The Rev. Sheldon Painter, Church Missionary Society, Kumamoto.
Miss K. M. Peacocke, Church Missionary Society, Tokyo.
The Rev. James H. Pettee, D.D., American Board of Com
missioners for Foreign Missions, Okayama.
The Rev. George P. Pierson, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Asahigawa, Hokkaido.
The Rev. Emil Schiller, German Evangelical Mission, Kyoto.
The Rev. D. B. Schneder, D.D., Reformed Church in the U.S.
(German), Sendai.
The Rev. Henry B. Schwartz, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church,
Naha, Loo Choo Islands.
The Rev. H. St. G. Tucker, M.A., Protestant Episcopal Church
in the U.S.A., Tokyo.
The Rev. M. Uemura, Nihon Kiristo Kvokwai, Tokyo.
The Rev. K. Usaki, D.D., Japan Methodist Church, Tokyo.
The Rev. E. H. Van Dyke, Methodist Protestant Church, Tokyo.
374 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
KOREA
The Rev. James E. Adams, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Taiku, Korea.
O. R. Avison, M.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Seoul.
Mr. H. O. T. Burkmall, British and Foreign Bible Society, Seoul.
The Rev. W. R. Foote, Presbyterian Church in Canada. Wonsan.
W. H. Forsythe, M.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (South),
Chunju.
The Rev. James S. Gale, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Seoul.
Mr. P. L. Gillett, Young Men's Christian Association, Seoul.
The Rev. Bishop M. C. Harris, D.D., LL.D., Methodist Episcopal
Church, Seoul.
The Rev. George Heber Jones, D.D.
The Rev. Robert Knox, Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (South),
Mokpo.
The Rev. S. A. Moffett, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Pyeng Yang.
W. T. Reid, IM.D., Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Songdo.
The Rev. Alex. F. Robb, Presbyterian Church in Canada, Wonsan.
The Rev. H. G. Underwood, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Seoul.
The Hon. T. H. Yun, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Korea,
Songdo.
CHINA
Mr. J. R. Adam, China Inland Mission, Anshunfu, Kweichow.
Mr. Edw. Amundsen, F.R.G.S., British and Foreign Bible Societj',
Yunnanfu.
The Rev. D. L. Anderson, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, Soochow.
John A. Anderson, M.D., China Inland Mission, Taichowfu,
Chekiang.
Mr. A. Stewart Annand, F.R.G.S., National Bible Society of Scot-
land, Tientsin.
Mr. John Archibald, National Bible Society of Scotland, Hankow.
The Rev. William Ashmore, jun., D.D., American Baptist Foreign
Mission Society, Swatow.
The Rev. Bishop James W. Bashford, D.D., LL.D., Methodist
Episcopal Church, Peking.
The Rev. W. L. Beard, Young Men's Christian Association,
Foochow.
Miss E. Benham, London Missionary Society, Tingchowfu.
Mr. August Berg, Svenska Missionen I Kina, Yuncheng, Shansi.
The Rev. G. H. Bondfield, British and Foreign Bible Society,
Shanghai.
The Rev. C. Bolwig, Danske Missionsselskab, Takushan, Man-
churia.
The Rev. William Nesbitt Brewster, S.T.B. Methodist Episcopal
Church, Hinghwa, Fukien.
Mr. F. S. Brockraan, Young Men's Christian Association, Shanghai.
APPENDIX A 375
The Rev. R. T. Bryan, D.D., Southern Baptist Convention,
Shanghai.
The Rev. Louis Bryde, B.A., Church Missionary Society, Yung-
chowfu, Hunan.
The Rev. A. H. Butzbach, Missionary Society of the EvangeUcal
Association, Shenchowfu, Hunan.
Prof. W. C. Chen, Peking University, Peking.
The Rev. Dugald Christie, F.R.C.P., L.R.C.S.; United Free
Church of Scotland, Moukden, Manchuria.
The Rev. S. R. Clarke, China Inland Mission, Kweiyang, Kweichow.
The Rev. Hunter Corbett, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Chefoo.
The Rev. Paul L. Corbin, American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, Taiku, Shansi.
Mr. Robert J. Davidson, Friends' Foreign Mission Association,
Chengtu, Szechwan.
The Rev. WiUiam Deans, Church of Scotland, Ichang, Hunan.
Prof. M. U. Ding, Young Men's Christian Association, Foochow.
Mr. Hans Doring, British and Foreign Bible Society, Shanghai.
The Rev. E. W. Ellis, American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, Lintsingchow, Shantung.
The Rev. J. Endicott, B.A., Methodist Church, Canada. Chengtu,
Szechwan.
Mr. Olav Espeegren, Norske Lutherske Kinamissionsforbund,
Nanyangfu, Hon an.
The Rev. C. E. Ewing, American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, Tientsin.
The Rev. Courtenay H. Fenn, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Peking.
Mr. W. N. Fergusson, British and Foreign Bible Society, Chengtu,
Szechwan.
The Rev. George F. Fitch, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Shanghai.
The Rev. Andr. Fleischer, Norske Missionsselskab, Changsha,
Hunan.
The Rev. Arnold Foster, B.A., London Missionary Society,
Wuchang.
Mr. S. M. Freden, Svenska Missionsforbundet, Kingchowfu,
Hupeh.
The Rev. A. A. Fulton, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Canton.
The Rev. J. C. Garritt, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S..\.,
Nanking.
The Rev. G. L. Gelwicks, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Hunan.
The Rev. Immanuel Genahr, Rheinsche Missionsgesellschaft,
Hongkong.
The Rev. John Campbell Gibson, M.A., D.D., Presbyterian Church
of England, Swatow.
The Rev. F. P. Gilman, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,Hoihow.
The Rev. Jonathan Goforth, Presbyterian Church in Canada,
Changlefu, Honan.
376 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The Rev. John Gowdy, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church,
Foochow.
The Rev. J. R. Graham, jun., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
(South), Tsing-kiang-pu.
The Rt. Rev. Frederick R. Graves, D.D., Bishop of the Missionary
District of Shanghai.
Mr. Charles H. S. Green, China Inland Mission, Hwailu, Chihli.
The Rev. A. L. Greig, London Missionary Society, Hangchowfu,
Hunan.
The Rev. Jacobus Grohmann, Kieler China Mission, Pakhoi,
Kwangtung.
Dr. G. W. Guinness, B.A., M.B., B.C., China Inland Mission,
Kaifeng, Honan.
The Rev. C. R. Hager, M.D., American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign. Missions, Hongkong.
The Rev. Perry Hanson, Methodist Episcopal Church, Taianfu,
Shantung.
The Rev. John Hedley, United Methodist Free Church, Yung-
pingfu.
Henry T. Hodgkin, M.A., M.B., Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, Chengtu, Szechwan ; now Secretary of the Friends'
Foreign Mission {Index).
Mr. W. S. Home, China Inland Mission, Kanchow.
Mr. D. E. Hoste, China Inland Mission, Shanghai.
The Rev. Horace W. Houlding, South Chihli Mission, Taimingfu,
ChihU.
Mr. G. W. Hunter, China Inland Mission, Urumchi, Sinkiang.
The Bishop of Shantung (The Rt. Rev. Geoffrey D. lUff, D.D.),
Taianfu, Shantung.
Mr. August Karlsson, Helgelseforbundet, Sopingfu, Shansi.
The Rev. William Kelly, M.D., Reformed Church in the U.S.
(German), Shenchowfu.
The Rev. A. Kollecker, Berliner Missionsgesellschaft, Canton.
Mr. A. W. Lagerquist, China Inland Mission, Laohokow, Hupeh.
Miss C. J. Lambert, Church Missionary Society, Foochow.
Mr. F. A. Larson, British and Foreign Bible Society, Kalgan,
Chihli.
Mr. J. Lawson, China Inland Mission, Yuanchow, Kiangsi.
The Rev. W. W. Lawton, Southern Baptist Convention, Cheng-
chow, Honan.
Dr. B. L. L. Learmonth, Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Hsin-
mintun, Manchuria.
The Rev. S. H. Littell, Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.,
Hankow.
The Rev. E. C. Lobenstine, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Hwai-yuen, Anhwei.
The Rev. J. Walter Lowrie, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Paotingfu.
The'rRev. Hiram H. Lowry, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church,
Peking.
Mr. Albert Lutley, China Inland Mission, Hungtung, Shansi.
J. A. M'Donald, M.D., Presbyterian Church in Canada, Canton.
APPENDIX A 377
The Rev. D. MacGillivray, M.A., D.D., Presbyterian Church in
Canada, Shanghai.
The Rev. Murdoch Mackenzie, D.D., Presbyterian Church in
Canada, Changtefu, Honan.
The Rev. M. C. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Church of England,
Samho, North Hakkaland.
Mrs. Calvin W. Mateer, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Wei-
hsien, Shantung.
The Rev. Lacy I. Mofiett, Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (South),
Kiangyin, Kiangsu.
The Venerable Archdeacon Arthur E. Moule, B.D., Church
Missionary Society, Ningpo.
Mr. John R. Muir, China Inland Mission, Batang, Szechwan.
Pastor Johannes Miiller, Berliner Missionsgesellschaft, Hongkong.
The Rev. James Neave, Methodist Church, Canada, Chengtu,
Szechwan.
The Rev. C. A. Nelson, American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, Canton.
Mr. A. G. NichoUs, China Inland Mission, Wutingchow, Yunnan.
The Rev. H. V. Noyes, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Canton.
The Rev. H. W. Oldham, Presbyterian Church of England,
Changpu, Fukien.
The Rev. F. W. S. O'Neill, M.A., Presbyterian Church in Ireland,
Fakumen, Manchuria.
Mr. Archibald Orr-Ewing, China Inland Mission, Kiukiang,
Kiangsi.
John A. Otte, M.D., Vereeniging tot oprichting en Instandhouding
van Hospitalen in China ten diens te der Medische Zending,
Amoy.
The Rev. A. P. Parker, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
Shanghai.
B. Lewis Paton, B.A., M.D., CM., D.P.H., Presbyterian Church
of England, Chinchew, Fukien.
The Rev. B. C. Patterson, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
(South), Suchien.
The Rev. S. Pollard, United Methodist Free Church, Tungchwanfu,
Yunnan.
The Bishop in Fukien (The Rt. Rev. H. M'C. E. Price, M.A.).
Foochow.
The Rev. P. F. Price, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
(South), Tunghsiang.
The Rev. James H. Pyke, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church,
Changli.
The Rev. Timothy Richard, D.D., Litt.D., Christian Literature
Society for China, Shanghai.
Mr. H. French Ridley, China Inland Mission, Siningfu, Kansu.
The Rev. J. K. Robb, Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church
in the U.S.A. (Covenanter), Takhing, West River, South China.
Mr. C. H. Robertson, Young Men's Christian Association, Tientsin.
The Rev. Henry Robertson, London Missionary Society, Wuchang.
The Rev. Rudolph Roehn, China Alliance Mission, Chinyuen.
378 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The Rt. Rev. Logan H. Roots, D.D., Bishop of the Missionary
District of Hankow.
The Rev. John Ross, D.D., United Free Church of Scotland,
Moukden, Manchuria.
Mr. Arthur Rugh, Young Men's Christian Association, Shanghai.
The Rev. Alexander R. Saunders, China Inland Mission, Yang-
chow, Kiangsu.
Mrs. Anna K. Scott, M.D., American Baptist Foreign Mission
Society, Swatow.
The Rev. j. E. Shoemaker, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Ningpo.
Dr. E. Z. Simmons, Southern Baptist Convention, Canton.
The Rev. Arthur H. Smith, D.D., American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, North China Mission.
The Rev. Erik Sovik, United Norwegian Lutheran Church of
America, Sinyangchow, Honan.
The Rev. Jacob Speicher, American Baptist Foreign Mission
Society, Kityang.
The Rev. William P. Sprague, American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Kalgan, Chihli.
Mr. J. W. Stevenson, China Inland Mission, Shanghai.
The Rev. J. L. Stuart, sen., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
(South), Hangchow.
The Rev. A. Sydenstricker, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
(South), Chingkiang, Kiangsu.
Miss C. M. Usher, Presbyterian Church of England Women's
Missionary Association, Amoy.
The Rev. C. J. Voskamp, Berliner Missionsgesellschaft, Tsingtau.
The Rev. Joseph E. Walker, D.D., American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, Foochow.
The Rev. A. Livingston Warnshuis, M.A., Reformed Church in
America (Dutch), South China.
Mr. W. Westwood, China Inland Mission, Anking.
The Rev. J. S. WhitewTight, Baptist Missionary Society, Chinanfu,
Shantung.
Mr. Heinrich Witt, China Inland Mission, Yuanchow, Hunan.
Prof. H. L. Zia, Young iSIen's Christian Association, Shanghai.
The Rev. G. Ziegler, Evangelische Missionsgesellschaft zu Basel.
Lilong, Kwangtung.
INDIA AND CEYLON
The Rev. Herbert Anderson, Baptist Missionary Society, Cal-
' cutta.
Miss Ellen Arnold, Furreedpore Missionary Society, Incorporated,
Pubna, East Bengal.
The Rev. V. S. Azariah, Indian Missionary Societ}' of Tinnevelly,
Haidarabad.
The Rev. T. Grahame Bailey, B.D., Church of Scotland, Wazira-
bad, Punjab.
Miss Esther Baird, American Friends' Board of Foreign Missions,
Nowgong.
APPENDIX A 379
The Rev. W. Barry, Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of New
South Wales, Comilla, East Bengal.
The Rev. O. Bodding, Norske Lutherske Kinamissionsforbund,
Ebenezer, Bengal.
Miss Kheroth M. Bose, Church of England Zenana Missionary
Society, Asrapur Atari, Punjab.
The Rev. Dr. Campbell, United Free Church of Scotland, Toondee,
Manbhoom.
The Rev. J. Fraser Campbell, D.D., Presbyterian Church in
Canada, Rutlam.
The Rev. K. C. Chatterjee, D.D., LL.D., Presbyterian Church in
India, Hoshvarpur. Punjab.
The Bishop of Colombo (The Rt. Rev. E. A. Copleston, D.D.).
Tlie Rev. J. E. Cummings, D.D., American Baptist Foreign
Mission Society, Hc-nzada, Burma.
The Rev. George ]. Dann, Baptist Missionary Society, Bankipore,
North India.
Miss A. de Sf-lincourt, Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, Alla-
habad.
Miss A. M. R. Dobson, Mus.Bac, Missionary Settlement for
University Women, Bombay.
The Rev. H. C. Duncan, M.A., Church of Scotland, Darjeeling.
Miss S. C. Easton, Woman's Union Missionary Societj' of America,
Calcutta.
Mr. George Sherwood Eddy, Young Men's Christian Association,
Madras.
Miss Marion Ewart, Church of England Zenana Missionary Society,
Madras.
The Rev. Arthur H. Ewing, Ph.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Allahabad.
The Rev. J. C. R. Ewing, D.D.. Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Lahore.
Mr. J. N. Farquhar, M.A., Young Men's Christian Association,
Calcutta.
The Rev. W. L. Ferguson, D.D., American Baptist Foreign
Mission Society, Madras.
The Rev. John N. Forman, B.A., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Mainpurie, U.P.
Mr. A. P. Franklin, Scandinavian Alliance Mission, Mandulwar,
Taloda, Khandesh.
Mr. Alek G. Fraser, M.A., Church Missionary Society, Kandy,
Ceylon.
The Rev. Jakob Gass, German Evangelical Sjoiod of North
America, Raipur, Central Provinces.
The Bishop of Travancore and Cochin (The Rt. Rev. C. H. Gill,
D.D.), Kottayam, S. India.
Mr. Thomas Gracie, British and Foreign Bible Society, Colombo,
Ceylon.
The Rev. H. Gulhford, Weslej-an Methodist Missionary Society,
Mysore City.
The Rev. Ferdinand Hahn, Gossnersche Missionsgesellschaft,
Purulia, Bengal.
380 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The Rev. William I. Hamilton, Presbyterian Church of England,
Rajshahi, East Bengal.
Mr. William H. Hannum, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Vengurle.
The Re%-. Canon R. S. Hej^wood, M.A., Church Missionary Society,
Bombay.
Miss Agnes Gale Hill, Young Women's Christian Association,
Bombay.
The Rev. j. F. Holcomb, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Landour, U.P.
Henry T. Holland, M.B., Ch.B., F.R.C.S., Church Missionary
Society, Quetta, Baluchistan.
The Rev. W. E. S. Holland, M..\., Church Missionarj- Society,
Allahabad.
The Rev. Robert A. Hume, M.A., D.D., American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, Ahmednagar.
Mr. I. Hutchinson, Church of Scotland, Chamba, Punjab.
The Rev. P. Ireland Jones, M.A., Church Missionary Society,
Lahore.
The Rev. John P. Jones, D.D., American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Pasumalai. Madura.
The Rev. S. V. Kamarkar, B.D., American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, Bombay.
The Rev. Francis Kingsburv', American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign ^Missions, Pasumalai, Madura.
The Late Bishop of Rangoon (The Right Rev. A. M. Knight,
D.D.).
Arthur C. Lankester, M.D., Church Missionarv Society. Peshavrar.
The Bishop of Lahore (The Rt. Rev. G. A. Lefroy, D.D.), Lahore.
Miss Catharine F. Ling, Church of England Zenana Missionary
Society. Ootacamund, Nilsiri Hills, S. India.
The Rev. James J. Lucas, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., AJlahabad.
Jliss Eveline A. Luce, Church Missionary Society, Azamgarh,
U.P.
The Bishop of Lucknow (The Rt. Rev. A. Clifford. D.D.), Lucknow.
Mr. Evan Mackenzie, Church of Scotland, Kalimpong, Bengal.
The Rev. J. H. Maclean, M.A., B.D., United Free Church of
Scotland, Bitr Conjeeveram, S. India.
The Rev. Nicol Macnicol, M.A., United Free Church of Scotland,
Poena.
The Rev. James M. Macphail, M.A., M.D., L'nited Free Church of
Scotland, Bamdah, SantaJia, Bengal.
The Rev. M. C. Mason, D.D., American Baptist Foreign ilission
Society, Tura. Assam.
The Rev. Charles H. Mattison, Presbj-terian Church in the U.S.A.,
Fatehpur, Haswa, U.P.
Dr. CecU Mead, B.A., Furreedpore ilissionaxy Society, Faridpur,
East Bengal.
The Rev. P. C. Nail, Victorian Baptist Foreign Mission, M\-nensing.
Mr. Arthur Neve, F.R.C.S., Church Missionary Society, Srinagar,
Kashmir.
APPENDIX A 3S1
The Rev. C. A. Nichols, D.D., American Baptist Foreign Mission
Society, Bassein, Burma.
Miss Chon'e OUver, M.D., Presbj-terian Church in Canada, Nee-
much, Central India.
Mr. Joseph Passmore, Madras Religious Tract and Book Society,
Madras.
The Rev. E. G. Phillips, D.D., American Baptist Foreign Mission
Society, Tura, Assam.
Pandita Ramabai, Mukti Mission, Kedgaon, Poona District.
The Rev. H. Risch, EvangeHsche Missionsgesellschaft zn Basel,
Mangalore, S. Canara.
The Rev. Bishop J. E. Robinson, D.D., Methodist Episcopal
Church, Bombav.
The Rev. Noble L. Rockev, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church,
Gonda, Oudh, U.P.
The Rev. Thomas B. Scott, M.D., American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, Jafina, Ceylon.
The Rev. Canon Ed-ward SeU, D.D., Church Missionary Society,
Madras.
The Rev. \V. Sherratt, British and Foreign Bible Society,
Rangoon, Burma.
Mr. F. W. Steinthal, Young Men's Christian Association, Calcutta.
The Rev. J. Sinclair Stevenson, M.A., B.D., Presbyterian Church
in Ireland, Rajkot, Gujerat.
The Rev. J. Stewart. M.A., United Free Church of Scotland.
Madras.
The Rev. Robert Stewart, D.D., LL.D., United Presbyterian
Church of North .\merica, Sialkot, Punjab.
The Rev. J. R. Stillwell, B.A., Baptist Convention of Ontario
and Quebec, Ramachandrapuram, Godaver%- District.
Prof. Wallace St. John, Ph.D., American Baptist Foreign Mission
Societv, Rangoon, Burma.
Mr. W. B. Stover," Church of the Brethren, Aukleshwer.
The Rev. J. T. Taylor, B.A., Presbyterian Church in Canada,
Mhow, Central India.
The Rev. Bishop James :M. Thobum, D.D., LL.D., Methcklist
Episcopal Church.
The Rev. J. T. Timmcke, Schleswig-Holsteinsche Evangelisch-
Lutherische Gesellschaft zu Breklum, Koraput, \^izagapatam.
The Rev. Sumner R. Vinton, American Baptist Foreign Mission
Society, Rangoon. Burma.
The Rev. Thomas Walker, M.A., Church Missionary Society,
Dohna\-ur, Tinnevell^-, S. India.
W. J. Wanless. M.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., iCraj,
Bombav Presidencv.
The Rev. Bishop Frank W. Wame, D.D., Methodist Episcopal
Church. Lucknow.
The Rev. H. U. Weitbrecht, Ph.D., D.D., Church ^Essionarj-
Society, Simla. Punjab.
The Rev. E. M. ^^'he^n.^ D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Ludhiana, Punjab.
The Bishop of Madras (The Rt. Rev. Henry Whitehead. D.D.).
382 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The Bishop of Tinnevelly and Madura (The Rt. Rev. A. A.
WiUiams, D.D.), Tinnevelly.
The Rev. J. G. Williams, B.Sc, Welsh Calvinistic Methodist
Church, Shellong, Assam.
Miss Amy Wilson-Carmichael, Church of England Zenana Mis-
sionary Society, Dohnavur, Tinnevelly.
The Rev. P. O. Wjmd, Regions Beyond Missionary Union, Chan-
patia, Bengal.
The Rev. A. WilUfer Young, British and Foreign Bible Society,
Calcutta.
MALAYA AND OCEANIA
Dr. N. Adriani, Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschat, Posso, Central
Celebes, Dutch East Indies.
Mr. B. N. Alkema, Nederlandsche Zendingsvereeniging, Buiten-
zorg, Java.
The Rev. Joseph Annand, M.A., D.D., Presbyterian Church in
Canada, Santo, South, New Hebrides.
The Rev. D. Bakker, Zending van de Gereformeerde Kerken in
Nederland, Dkocjakarta, Java.
The Rt. Rev. C. H. Brent, D.D., Bishop of the Missionary District
of the Philippine Islands, Manila.
W. A. Briggs, M.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Cliieng
Rai, Laos.
The Rev. John R. Denyes, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church,
Batavia, Java.
The Rev. W. C. Dodd, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Chieng
Rai, Laos.
The Rev. A. A. Forshee, American Baptist Foreign Mission Society,
Bacolod, PhiUppine Islands.
The Rev. Ed. Fries, Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft, Sifaoroasi,
Nias, Indonesia.
Mr. P. A. Gericke, Neukirchener Missionsanstalt, Tingkir, Java.
The Rev. M. K. Gilmour, Methodist Missionary Society of Austra-
lasia, Ubuia, New Guinea.
James A. Graham, M.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippine Islands.
The Rev. Aug. Hanke, Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft, Friedrich
Wilhelm Hafen, German New Guinea.
Mr. Adam Hoh, Gesellschaft furinnere und aussere Mission im
sinn der Lutherischen Kirche, Tami, Kaiserwilhelmsland,
New Guinea.
The Rev. J. H. Holmes, London Missionary Society, Urika,
New Guinea.
The Rev. J. M. Hoover, Methodist Episcopal Church, Sibu,
Borneo.
Mr. A. Hueting, Utrechtsche Zendingsvereeniging, Tobelo, Halma-
heirai, Dutch East Indies.
Miss Marie Jensz, Seventh - Day Baptist Missionary Society,
Pangoengsen. Java.
Mr. Alb. C. Kruyt, Nederlandsch Zendelinggenootschap, Posso,
Central Celebes, Dutch East Indies.
APPENDIX A 383
The Rev. Paul Landgrebe, Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft,
Sipoholon, Sumatra.
The Rev. W. G. M'Clure, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Bangkok, Siam.
The Rev. Daniel M'Gilvary, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Chieng Mai, Laos.
The Rev. Mr. Matthes, Evangelisch-Lutherische Mission zu Leipzig,
Penag, Straits Settlements.
Mr. J. H. Neumann, Nederlandsch Zendehnggenootschap,
Sibolangit, DeU, Sumatra.
The Rev. Bishop W. F. Oldham, D.D., LL.D., Methodist Episcopal
Church, Singapore, Straits Settlements.
The Rev. James B. Rodgers, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Manila, Phihppine I.slands.
The Rev. S. B. Rossiter, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Manila, Phihppine Islands.
Dr. Samuel Schoch, Gereformeerde Kerk in Nederlandsch-Indie,
Tamohon, Celebes, Dutch East Indies.
The Rev. A. J. Small, Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia,
Suva, Fiji Islands.
The Rev. Hugh Taylor, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Lekawn,
Lampang, Laos.
Mr. C. E. G. Tisdall, British and Foreign Bible Society, Singapore,
Straits Settlements.
Mr. M. J. van Baarda, Utrechtsche Zendingsvereeniging, Galela,
Dutch East Indies.
Dr. C. W. Th. Baron Van Boetzelaer van Dubbcldam, Missionary
Consul, Batavia, Java.
Mr. F. J. F. Van Hasselt, Utrechtsche Zendingsvereeniging, Kwawi,
New Guinea.
Mr. Geo. A. Wood, Seventh-day Baptist Missionary Society,
Pangoengsen, Java.
WESTERN AND CENTRAL ASIA
The Rev. Alpheus N. Andrus, American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Mardin, Turkey-in-Asia.
The Rev. Henry S. Barnum, D.D., American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, Constantinople, Turkey.
President Howard S. BUss, D.D., Syrian Protestant College, Beirut,
Syria.
The Rev. James Cantine, D.D., Reformed Church in America
(Dutch), East Arabia.
The Rev. Robert Chambers, D.D.. American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, Bardezag, Ismidt, Turkey-
in-Asia.
The Rev. F. G. Coan, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Urumia, Persia.
The Rev. C. A. Dodds, Reformed Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A. (Covenanter), Mersina, Asia Minor.
The Rev. Lewis F. Esselstyn, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Teheran, Persia.
384 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The Rev. George A. Ford, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Sidon, Syria.
President C. F. Gates, Robert College, Constantinople, Turkey.
The Rev. George F. Herrick, D.D., American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, Constantinople, Turkey.
The Rev. T. R. Hodgson, British and Foreign Bible Society,
Constantinople, Turkey.
Miss G. Y. Holliday, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Tabriz,
Persia.
The Rev. F. E. Hoskins, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Beirut, Syria.
Mr. Th. Irrsich, British and Foreign Bible Society, Persia and
Turkish Arabia.
The Rev. H. H. Jessup, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Beirut, Syria.
The Rev. George M. Mackie, D.D., Church of Scotland, Beirut,
Syria.
The Rev. Alex. MacLachlan, American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Smyrna, Turkey-in-Asia.
The Rev. John E. Merrill, Ph.D., American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Aintab, Turkey-in-Asia.
The Rev. William S. Nelson, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., Tripoli, Syria.
The Rev. George E. Post, D.D., LL.D., Syrian Protestant College,
Beirut, Syria.
Mr. C. Raquette, Svenska, Mis.sionsforbundet, Jarkend, Kaschgar,
East Turk) Stan.
The Rev. G. C. Raynolds, M.D., American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, Van, Turkey-in-Asia.
The Rev. W. A. Rice, M.A., Church Missionary Society, Julfa,
Persia.
The Rev. Henry H. Riggs, American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Harpoot, Turkey'
The Rev. W. A. Shedd, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Urumia, Persia.
The Rev. Henry Sykes, M.A., Church Missionary Society, Jeru-
salem, Palestine.
The Rev. John Van Ess, The Reformed Church in America (Dutch),
Busrah, Arabia.
Pastor D. von Oertzen, Deutsche Orient Mission, Kurdistan,
Persia.
The Rev. John C. Young, M.A., M.B., CM., United Free Church
of Scotland, Sheikh Olhman, Arabia.
AFRICA
The Rev. J. R. Alexander, D.D., United Presbyterian Church of
North America, Assiut, Egypt.
Pasteur E. Allegret, Soci.^te des Missions Evangeliques, French
Congo, Africa.
Mr. T. E. Alvarez, M.A., Church Missionary Society, Lokoja,
Northern Nigeria, West Africa.
APPENDIX A 385
The Rt. Rev. Bishop N. Astrup, Norskc Kirkes Missions Ved
Schreuder, Untunjambili, Natal, South Africa.
The Rev. William M. Beck, General Synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in U.S.A., Monrovia, Liberia.
M. le Pasteur P. A. Bjelde, United Norwegian Lutheran Church of
America, Ft. Daulphin, Madagascar.
Dr. Chr. Borchgrevink, Norske Lutherske Kinamissionsforbund,
Antananarivo, Madagascar.
The Rev. John Bruce, United Free Church of Scotland, Pieter-
maritzburg. Natal.
Pasteur Th. Burnier, Societe des Missions EvangeUques, Lukona,
Barotseland, Rhodesia.
The Coadjutor- Bishop of Cape Tovm (The Rt. Rev. W. M. Cameron,
D.D.), Cape Colony.
The Rev. Karl Cederquist, Evangeliska Forterlands Stiftelsens,
Adis Abeba, Abyssinia.
The Rev. William Christie, Primitive Methodist Missionary
Society, Ikot-ekpene, Calabar, S. Nigeria.
Mr. J. P. Cook, Mission Protestante Francaise en Kabylie, Algeria.
The Rev. Joseph J. Cooksey, N. Africa Mission, Susa, Tunis.
The Rev. G. Daeuble, Norddeutsche Missionsgesellschaft, Lome,
Togo, West Africa.
The Rev. F. W. Dennis, London Missionary Society, Amboln-
dratrimo, Madagascar.
Mr. Ernest W. Doulton, Church Missionary Society, Kongwa,
Mpapua, German East Africa.
The Rev. J. du Plessis, B.D., General Mission Secretary, Dutch
Reformed Church in South Africa, Cape Town.
The Bishop of Sierra Leone (The Rt. Rev. E. H. Elwin, D.D.)
(deceased).
Miss Maria Erics.=5on, Kvinliga Missions-arbetare (Sweden), Bizerte,
Tunis.
The Rev. D. L. Erskine, United Free Church of Scotland, Somer-
\dlle, Tsolo, Griqualand, East, Cape Colony.
Mr. Edgar C. FaithfuU, B.A., South Africa General Mission, Lulwe,
Port Herald, Nyasaland.
The Rev, R. Fassmann, Evangelisch-Lutherische Mission zu
Leipzig, Jogga Kilimanjaro, German East Africa.
The Rev. Donald Eraser, United Free Church of Scotland, Loudon,
Nyasaland.
The Rev. William H. T. Gairdner, B.A., Church Missionary-
Society, Cairo, Egypt.
The Rev. J. K. Griffen, D.D., United Presbyterian Church oi
North America, Sudan.
Mr. J. Hammar Svenska, Missionsforbundet, Maziya, Mbamu,
French Congo.
The Rev. E. Hartwig, Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft, Saroa,
Cape Colony.
Mr. John E. Hatch, South Africa General Mission, Gazaland,
Portuguese East Africa.
Principal James Henderson, M. A., United Free Church of Scotland,
Lovedale.
COM. L — 25
386 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The Hon. and Rev. Alex. Hetherwick, M.A., D.D.. F.R.G.S.,
Church of Scotland, Blantyre, Nyasaland.
The Rev. J. Hofmann, Evangelisch-Lutherische Mission zu Leipzig,
British East Africa.
Mr. C. T. Hooper, British and Foreign Bible Society, Alexandria,
Egypt.
The Rev. E. Johannssen, Evangehsche Missionsgesellschaft fiir
Deutsch-Ostafrika, Kirinda, Ruanda, German East Africa.
The Rev. John R. King, D.D., United Brethren in Christ, Free-
town, Sierra Leone.
The Rev. O. Krause, Superintendent, BerUner Missionsgesellschaft,
Pietersburg, Transvaal.
Mr. K. E. Lamen, Svenska Missionsforbundet, Mukimbungu,
Tumba, Belgian Congo.
The Rev. Robert Laws, M.A., M.D., D.D., F.R.G.S., United Free
Church of Scotland, Livingstonia, Nyasaland.
The Rev. Fred Ljungquist, Svenska Kyrkans Missionstyrelse,
Appelsbosch, Noodsberg, Natal.
The Rev Elbert L. M'Creery, United Presbyterian Church of
North America, Doleib Hill, Sudan.
Mr. W. R. S. Miller, M.R.C.S.. L.R.C.P., Church Missionary
Society, Laria, Northern Nigeria, West Africa.
TheRev. W. M. Morrison, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
(South), Luebo, Belgian Congo.
Mr. Cuthbert Nairn, Southern Morocco Mission, Marrakesh,
Southern Morocco.
The Bishop of Mombasa (The Rt. Rev. Wm. G. Peel, D.D.),
British East Africa.
The Rev. H. Chr. Prigge, Mission der Hannoverschen Evangelisch-
Lutherischen Freikirche, Transvaal.
Dr. R. de Prosch (deceased), Societe des Missions Evangeliques,
Upper Zambesi.
The Rev. J. H. Colpais Purdon, Methodist Episcopal Church
(North), Tunis, North Africa.
The Rev. Martin Rautanen, Finska Jlissionssallskapet, Ondonga,
German S.-W. Africa.
The Rev. William Govan Robertson, London Missionary Society,
Kawmbe, N.-E. Rhodesia.
Mr. Karl Gustaf Roden, Evangeliska Fosterlands Stiftelsens,
Gheleb Cheren, Eritrea.
The Rev. G. Ruccius, Evangehsche Missionsgesellschaft fiir
Deutsch-Ostafrika, Bumbuli, Usambara, German East Africa.
The Rev. A. E. Ruskin, Regions Beyond Missionary Union, Bon-
gandanga, Upper Congo.
The Rev. WilUam H. Sanders, American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Kamundongo, West Central Africa
The Rev. Henry E. Scott. M.A., L.R.C.P.&S., Church of Scot-
land, Kikuyu, British East Africa.
The Rev. C. Schumann, BerUner Missionsgesellschaft, Lupembe,
German East Africa.
The Rev. A. Shaw, M.A., Church Missionary Society, Malek,
Southern Sudan, Egypt.
APPENDIX A 387
Mr. John Sims, Friends' Foreign Mission Association, Antananarivo,
Madagascar.
Miss Mary M. Slessor, United Free Church of Scotland, Use.Calabar,
West Africa.
The Rev. Percy Smith, North Africa Mission, Constantine,
Algeria.
The Bishop of Lebombo (The Rt. Rev. William E. Smyth, M.A.,
M.B.), Lourenco Marques, Portuguese East Africa.
The Rev. Wesley M. Stover, D.D., American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, Bailundu, Angola, West
C^PTi It"?! I A fri c^ri
The Bishop of Uganda (The Rt. Rev. A. R. Tucker, D.D., LL.D.),
Namirembe, Kampala, Uganda.
The Rev. G. P. van der Merwe, British and Foreign Bible Society,
Cape Town, Cape Colony.
The Rev. Heinrich Vedder, Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft,
Swakopmund, German South-west Africa.
The Rev. Adolf Viethauer, EvangeUsche Missionsgesellschaft zu
Basel, Bali, Cameroons.
The Bishop of Zululand (The Rt. Rev. L. Vyvyan, D.D.), Isandhl-
wana, Zululand.
The Venerable Archdeacon R. H. Walker, M.A., Church Missionary
Society, Mengo, Uganda.
The Rev. George A. Wilder, D.D., American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, Chikore, Rhodesia.
The Rev. Arthur W. Wilkie, M.A., B.D., United Free Church ol
Scotland, Duke Town, Calabar, Southern Nigeria.
The Rev. Clinton T. Wood, M.A., Chairman, Student Volunteer
Missionary Union of South Africa, Wellington, Cape Colony.
OTHER FIELDS
The Rev. W. B. AlUson, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.
Guatemala City, Central America.
The Rev. G. F. Arms, Methodist Episcopal Church, Concepcion,
Chile.
The Rev. Frederik Balle, Chaplain to Greenland.
The Rev. R. H. Bender, Central American Mission, Salvador, San
Salvador.
The Rev. J. W. Butler, Methodist Episcopal Church, Mexico City,
Mexico.
The Bishop of Carpentaria, Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia.
The Rev. J. G. Cassel, Central American Mission, San Marcos,
Guatemala.
Miss Esther D. Clark, Free Methodist Church of North America,
San Francisco De Macoris, Dominican Republic, West Indies.
Mr. W. Davidson, British and Foreign Bible Society, Ekaterm-
burg, Russia.
The Rev. A. B. de Roos, Central American Mission, Managua,
Nicaragua.
The Rev. Robert Elder, Regions Beyond Missionary Union,
Buenos Ayres, Argentina.
388 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The Rev. R. C. Elliot, Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
Guadalajara, Mexico.
The Rev. H. Fellman, Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia,
Raluana, Neu Pommem, Bismarck Archipelago.
The Rev. W. G. Fletcher, Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
Matanzas, Cuba.
The Rev. J. E. Garvin, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Copiapo, Chili.
Mr. Frederick C. Glass, South American Evangelical Mission,
Goyaz, Estado de Goyaz, Brazil.
The Rev. Alva Hardie, Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (Soutli),
Descalvado, Estado de Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The Rev. G. E. Hcnderlite, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
(South), Garanhuns, Estado de Pernambuco, Brazil.
Mr. S. G. Inman, Christian Women's Board of Missions, C. P. D.iiz,
Coah., Mexico.
The Rev. E. Donald Jones, Wesleyan Methodist Missionary
Society, Georgetown, British Guiana.
The Rev. Joseph King, London Missionary Society, Melbourne,
Australia.
Mr. E. John Larson, Svenska Missionsforbundet, Tifiis, Caucasus,
Russia.
Mrs. George C. Levering, American Friends' Board of Foreign
Missions, Victoria, Mexico.
The Rev. James W. Lord, Wesleyan Alissionary Society, Belize,
British Honduras.
The Rev. W. W. M'Connell, Central American Mission, San Jose,
Costa Rica.
The Rev. A. Stuart M'Nairn, Regions Beyond Missionary Union,
Cuzco, Peru.
The Rev. John Morton, D.D., Presbyterian Church in Canada,
Princestown, Trinidad, British West Indies.
Pastor A. E. Bishop, Central American Mission, Guatemala City,
Guatemala.
Mr. Will Payne, Christian Missions in Many Lands, Cordoba,
Argentina.
The Bishop of Perth, Western Australia.
The Rev. T. S. Pond, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Caracas,
Venezuela.
The Rev. J. W. Price, Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
Uruguayana, Brazil.
Mr. Bryce W. Ranken, South American Evangelical Mission, Sao
Paulo, Brazil.
The Rev. A. B. Reekie, Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec,
La Paz, Bolivia.
The Rev, J. O. Shelby, Presbyterian Church in the U.S., C.
Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
The Rev. J. R. Smith, Presbyterian Church in the U.S., Campinas,
Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Mr. A. R. Stark, British and Foreign Bible Society, Callao, Peru.
The Rev. F. G. Toms, Central American Mission, Huehuetenango,
Guatemala.
APPENDIX A 389
The Rev. H. C. Tucker, American Bible Society, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil.
The Rev. F. Uttley, British and Foreign Bible Society, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
The Rev, W. A. Waddell, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,
Lencoes, Bahia, Brazil.
The Rev. I. H. Wenberg, American Bible Society, La Paz,
Bolivia.
The Rev. R. L. Wharton, Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (South),
Cardenas, Cuba.
The Rev. J. S. Wilson, M.A., United Free Church of Scotland,
San Fernando, Trinidad.
OTHER CORRESPONDENTS
The Rev. J. D. Adam, East Orange, N.J., U.S.A.
The Rev. George Alexander, D.D., New York City, U.S.A.
The Rev. F. Ashcroft, M.A., United Free Church of Scotland,
Edinburgh, Scotland.
Professor James Ballantyne, Toronto, Canada.
The Rev. Thomas Barclay, M. A., Presbyterian Church of England,
London, England.
The Rev. Fred J. Barny, Reformed Church of America (Dutch),
New York City, U.S.A.
The Rev. James L.Barton, D.D., American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, Boston, U.S.A.
Hon. S. H. Blake, K.C., Toronto, Canada.
Prof. Borden P. Bowne (deceased), Boston, U.S.A.
Bishop S. C. Breyfogel, Missionary Society of the Evangelical
Association, Reading, Pa., U.S.A.
The Rev. J. P. Brodhead, Free Methodist Church of North
America, Franklin, Pa., U.S.A.
The Rev. W. E. Bromilow, Methodist Missionary Society of
Australasia, Gordon, New South Wales, Australia.
The Rev. Arthur J. Brown, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., New York, U.S.A.
The Rev. G. W. Brown, Foreign Christian Missionary Society
(Disciples), Baltimore, Md., U.S.A.
Prof. Ernest D. Burton, Chicago, U.S.A.
Edward Warren Capen, Ph.D., Boston, U.S.A.
W. O. Carver, M.A., Th.D., Louisville, Ky., U.S.A.
The Rev. WilUam I. Chamberlain, Ph.D., New Brunswick, N.J.,
U.S.A.
The Rev. S. H. Chester, D.D., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
(South), Nashville, Tenn., U.S.A.
The Rev. Francis E. Clark, D.D., LL.D., Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
The Rev. Theodore F. Clark, Methodist Episcopal Church, Union
Course. New York, U.S.A.
Pasteur Daniel Couve, Societe des Missions Evangeliques, Paris,
France.
The Rev. L. Dahle, Norske Missionsselskab, Stavanger, Norway.
390 CARRYING THE GOSPEL
The Rev. B. Danks, Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia,
Sydney, New South Wales, Austraha.
The Rev. John L. Dearing, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A.
The Rev. Paul de Schweinitz, D.D., Moravian Church in America,
Bethlehem, Pa., U.S.A.
Prof. W. P. Du Bose, D.D., Sewanee, Tenn., U.S.A.
The Rt. Rev. the Lord Bishop of Durham, Auckland Castle,
Bishop Auckland, England.
Pastor K. M. Eckhoii, Christiania, Norway.
The Rev. M. D. Eubank, M.D., American Baptist Foreign Mission
Society, Kansas City, Mo., U.S.A.
The Rev. Wm. Ewing. M.A., United Free Church of Scotland,
Jewish Committee, Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Rev, John Alfred Faulkner, D.D., Madison, N.J., U.S.A.
The Rev. L. H. Field, Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of New
South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Austraha.
The Rev. WilUam H. Findlay, M.A., Wesleyan Methodist Mission-
ary Society, London, England.
Mr. Johann Fliert, Gesellschaft fiir innere und aussere Mission
im Sinn der Lutherischen Kirche, Neuendettelsau, Bavaria,
Germany.
The Rev. Henry M. Ford, Hillsdale, Mich., U.S.A.
Principal P. T. Forsyth, M.A., D.D., London, England.
Dr. Karl Fries, Stockholm, Sweden.
The Rev. W. T. FuUerton, Baptist Missionary Society, Leicester,
England.
Principal Alfred Gandier, Toronto, Canada.
The Rev. S. W. Gentle-Cackett, Bible Lands Missions' Aid Society,
London, England.
Miss Georgina A. GoUock, Church Missionary Society, London,
England.
The Rt. Rev. the Lord Bishop of Birmingham, Birmingham,
England.
The Rev. John F. Goucher, D.D., Baltimore, Md., U.S.A.
The Rev. R, J. Grant, D.D., Presbyterian Church in Canada,
Halifax, N.S., Canada.
Mr. J. W. Gunning, JHz., Delft, Holland.
The Rev. H. Hackmann, Lit. th., Allgemeiner evangelisch-
protestantischer Missionsverein, London, England.
The Rev. F. E. Hagin, Foreign Christian Missionary Society
(Disciples), Glendova, Calif., U.S.A.
The Rev. J. W. Haley, Free Methodist Church of North America,
Chicago, U.S.A.
Dean Chr. Hall, Norges Kristelige Ungdoms Forbunds Missions-
komite, Kristiania, Norway.
The Rev. R, C. Hastings, 
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